Fragmented Magic
by Robin Grim
Summary: In a Fragmented world of magic Ruby Rose awakens powers she hadn't expected, causing her uncle Qrow Brawnen to take her under his sometimes literal wing. Learning spells and fighting is hard, but as long as she has her 'Master' at her side Ruby knows she'll be fine. Magical Remnant/"Fragment" AU Cross-Posted on AO3 under Lexi Phai
1. Magical Goodbyes

**Ok, first things first; I have not given up on Never Forget, I'm just having some writer's block and this idea came to mind. This world is very different from the Canon Remnant, even if most of it seems mostly similar right now...I actually call this world "Fragment" instead, hence the title of the story. Hope you all enjoy ^^**

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"Daddy?" Ruby was perhaps six or seven at the time, eyes wide in fear as roots of the tree she was standing near snaked slowly up her legs.

"It's okay Baby Girl." Taiyang spoke softly, giving a reassuring smile. "The tree is trying to protect you."

"P-protect me?" She looked up at the large, branched plant. The howl of a Beowolf caused the child to tremble, the roots picking up their speed. The adult's smile became a wistful one.

"Just like your mother." He murmured, watching the large plant wrap his youngest daughter in a protective embrace with it's roots. "You got scared of the Beowolf, so the tree is trying to keep you safe." The explanation was far too simple for the actual situation, but he couldn't really explain without his ex-brother-in-law...unfortunately, he had no idea when the other man would-

"Caw!" The familiar screeching cry of a crow echoed from the direction of the Grimm howl from earlier, the dirty blond seeing the roots loosen their grip on the little girl.

"Is that Uncle Qrow?" The redhead asked.

"It sounds like it." He responded, the tree releasing her in her excitement...they were still out of the ground, not at all where they should be, but it would be fixed soon enough. Growls and howls of pain from the creatures of darkness could be heard, the small girl almost bouncing on her feet as she waited impatiently.

"That pack was getting real close Tai. Couldn't you have taken them out yourself?" The black haired man questioned as he walked out of the line of trees.

"Uncle Qrooooooooooooow!" The child dashed as fast as her tiny legs could carry her, jumping to cling to the new man's arm with a wide grin. "Hi!" But he didn't even look at her, frowning at her dad instead.

"Normally." The blue eyed man stated, his daughter pouting when she still got no attention while his friend gave an off sort of frown.

"Did you miss me?" She tried, he felt bad when she got no answer.

"Normally?" Red eyes bore into him, the concern for him and his family almost pulled the brawler's lips into a soft smile...almost.

"Something...came up." A gesture to the roots drew the other man's attention to them, eyes widening slightly.

"Hey Kiddo...was that you?" The silver eyed girl had begun silently sobbing at being ignored, the free hand of the man she still clung to placed comfortingly on her head. When she looked up at him with teary eyes he pointed to the roots, her head turning to follow.

"Daddy said it...it was protecting me..." She sniffled in the middle, only tugging on her father's heartstrings more.

"Protecting you..." The caped man repeated, giving a soft sigh. "Yeah, I missed you." Those familiar eyes widened at the change in their greeting routine, looking at her dad in confusion.

"Why don't you go get cleaned up Ruby?" Her dad suggested, the child looking down at herself...when she noticed she was covered in dirt from the tree she nodded, pausing in front of the door.

"How long...are you staying?"

"You'll be seeing plenty of me Kiddo." She grinned at the answer and ran inside, closing the door behind her. The silence between the adults stretched on for seconds that felt like hours, neither sure what to say.

"...Mind fixing that?" Tai requested without needing to clarify what he meant, getting a nod. The other held his right palm towards the roots, a momentary red glow covering his hand...the roots shot back into the ground, covered by the earth as though nothing had happened before the hand fell back to it's owner's side. A heavy sigh came from the magic-user before he took a long drink from his flask.

"So...this the first time that happened?" Qrow asked, attention on the house.

"Yeah." The blond confirmed, that wistful smile falling into place again. "She really is just like Summer."

"She is." The black haired man agreed. "Pretty sure she was hoping Ruby would be magicless though." It was the other's turn to sigh.

"I think we all were." There was another long pause. "...This is it then?"

"You know what happened to Summer before she learned to control her magic." The red eyed man scoffed, flinching slightly when he realized how harshly that had come out. "Uh..."

"It's fine." The blue eyed man smiled sadly. "I know you didn't mean it like that."

"...I'm sorry Tai." The sincerity in his friend's voice only pushed home that this was real.

"...I know."

~FrM~

"Why are you packing up Ruby's stuff?" Yang asked her father, standing in the doorway and shaking...she must have heard him opening the drawers.

"Ruby's...going with Qrow for a while." Tai stated softly, he'd still been preparing himself for telling her.

"Why?!" The bright blonde immediately demanded, he didn't need to look to know the purple had been replaced by red.

"Safety." The duller blond murmured.

"That stupid tree thing?!" She must have been looking out a window. "That's not going to hurt anyone!" Why was she making this even harder on him?

"It's for her own good Yang." The tanned man's voice is barely steady, most of his will going into keeping it from breaking.

"Never getting to see us is for her own good?!"

"Yes!" His older daughter took a step back with fearful eyes that flickered back to purple, half-full backpack forgotten. He clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath, hating that he had allowed his temper to get the better of him...he was supposed to be passed this. "I...I'm sorry." The blue eyed man walked over to the child, meaning to kneel but falling to his knees instead. "I didn't...Yang, please..." He vaguely knew he wasn't make much sense now.

"...Dad?" When had he begun crying?

"I don't want Ruby to leave...but she needs to learn to control her magic." The brawler explained, wiping away the little girl's tears despite his own still falling.

"Why can't Qrow just stay here?" Her lip quivered as he took a shaky breath.

"Magic is..." He paused. "It...lashes out a lot, especially if the one using it just started using it."

"Lash out?" The long haired girl asked.

"...It attacks people." She got a look of horror. "Ruby would never mean to hurt someone." He cut off before she could point it out, seeing the expression starting to change to disbelief. "But until she gets a handle on it the magic isn't really Ruby...it'll protect her when she's scared, even if it means attacking people who won't even hurt her, and it'll destroy things when she gets mad."

"But she...can't hurt Qrow?"

"He can use his own magic to stop it from doing anything to him, but that's about it." The man's hands slowly reached for his long glove, pulling it off to reveal an ugly scar on the front like his arm had been stabbed...a strangled gasp came from the other person in the room. "I got this as a kid, about your age, back when...when Summer and I were friends. Something scared her, and when I reached to calm her down a root stabbed into my arm. She...she left the next day, didn't see her again until we were sixteen." He rubbed the marking sadly, what felt like hundreds of apologies filling his mind...all of them had happened, she was always apologizing.

"...Can I give her something? To remember us?" His oldest daughter's voice snapped him back to the present.

"Of course." A sad smile was exchanged and the girl left for her room.

~FrM~

"A bag?" Ruby blinked at her dad when he handed it to her, having dressed her in a coat and boots already. "And doesn't Yang need shoes?"

"Yang is staying here." Tai stated simply.

"But you said she isn't old enough to be home alone!" The silver eyed girl pouted.

"She's not." He agreed, getting a confused look.

"Come on Kiddo." Qrow sighed, opening the door...she looked between him and her family, beginning to shake.

"Daddy?" Her voice did too, the plants in front of the house shifting their roots in the garden.

"You're going with your uncle for a while." The blue eyed man explained.

"What about you?"

"I'm staying here, with Yang." He said softly, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"Come on Ruby, it won't be for long!" Yang forced a smile at her sister, holding out a piece of orange cloth.

"B-but...this is your favourite..." The smaller girl pointed out.

"And I want it back when you come back." The bigger one told her. "So you can't stay away for long." The other stared for a few moments before nodding, tying it around her neck like her sister did. They shared a hug, her father getting the same with a kiss of the cheek before she finally pulled away.

"Come on Kiddo." The black haired man repeated, his little niece following him out the door.

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 **Well, this is a highly emotional first chapter, isn't it? I tried to give Tai a little scene with each person here, being the most emotionally effected by Ruby's magic awakening. For those wondering; during his scene with Yang we have Qrow in the living room silently cursing his life and the pain he now has to cause the family he cares about, and Ruby is playing with toys with him. Hope you all enjoyed, see you soon.**


	2. Boats and Cloaks

**I never stopped to realize that the first few chapters of this story would be emotional or a bit info-dumpy, but it can't be helped. I had originally planned to end this chapter earlier, but it was too short so I added the end bit. Hope you all enjoy, read and review!**

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Silver eyes stared across the water, at the long gone island, the owner clutching at the orange scarf hidden below the red coat. It had been hours since they left port and her home faded from sight, but all Ruby had managed to do was stare off the back of the ship and sob...she didn't even realize people were yelling at her until she heard her uncle.

"Leave the kid alone!" Qrow was never angry around Ruby, but his voice came out like the harsh caw of his namesake.

"She's going to draw Grimm to us!" A man disagreed angrily, and even though she tried to stop what he said only seemed to make it worse. There was a woosh and she knew the red eyed man had moved aside his cape...there was a gasp.

"A...a mage?" It was a woman's voice this time, sounding almost afraid.

"Why would a mage wear civilian clothing?!" A second man demanded as she heard her uncle's footsteps coming towards her.

"It's easier to ride on boats like this without them, so I can see my little niece here." The black haired man explained as though it were obvious. "My new little apprentice."

"She's a mage too?" The woman asks, sounding startled.

"Just awoke to her magic today." He confirmed. "First time leaving home to boot." The people murmur to one another before giving soft apologies, leaving the two alone.

"I-I'm sorry." The redhead sniffled as she tried to stop crying, feeling him place a hand on her head and gently ruffle her hair.

"It's alright Kiddo." The pale man speaks softly, comfortingly, and it's so unlike him it must be hard. "Most mages have this happen. It's hard leaving home at your age." Knowing she isn't the only one who goes through this finally helps get her emotions under control again, focusing instead on the familiar warmth of his hand on her head.

"...Hey Uncle?" The pale girl spoke after several minutes of silence, neither having moved.

"Yeah Kiddo?"

"I heard your cape move...how did you show your a mage?" The red loving girl asked, looking up at him with horribly puffed up eyes.

"Right...Tai never told you any of this stuff." The adult remembered aloud, taking a sip from his flask. "Normally mages wear special clothes to show who we are, made for fighting Grimm...I wear civilian clothes when I'm on Patch, so you've never seen me in them. I'll be getting you some once we dock." She nodded to show she was following along. "As for how to tell if one is wearing civilian clothes..." From a back pocket he pulled a palm sized silver wing with a gear shape cut out of the base, holding it out to show.

"That looks so cool!" The little girl exclaimed, eyes suddenly filled with wonder...it was far too familiar for him.

"It's called an 'Emblem' Kiddo, all registered mages have one...most wear them on their clothes. Gold or silver show a mage, and each one is made by their owner." The mage explained.

"What was Mommy's?" He blinked down at her.

"I didn't know your dad told you she was a mage."

"He didn't." The apprentice admitted. "But when Daddy saw the roots he said I was just like Mommy." He gave a sudden caw of laughter, gone as quickly as it had come.

"A rose...a silver rose."

~FM~

Days passed slowly on the ship, there wasn't much to do...her uncle said that was because it wasn't a 'cruise ship', he looked really tired so she didn't ask what that meant even though she didn't know. The people who had gotten mad at her before brought candy on the second day on the ship, when she looked to him to ask if she could have it he just said she could do what she wanted...the candy had been on and off munched on since.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby knocked on the door to their cabin, confused and a little scared when he didn't answer. "Uncle Qrow we reached land." She states after another few knocks, panic beginning to set in when there's still no response. The wood of the door and nearby walls creak even though the boat had already stopped, her vision becomes blurred suddenly and all she can hear is the creaking.

"I'm done Kiddo." The door had slammed open but she didn't notice until hearing his voice, silver eyes trying to focus even though it's hard to breathe. She thinks he curses, but she can't fully make it out. A warm hand on her head snaps her focus back, a gasp leaving her mouth for some air...she had no idea when she collapsed to her knees. "It took me longer than I expected to get changed... didn't mean to make you worry."

 _I used my magic again._ The redhead realized, her hearing had only picked up the moving roots last time too, though her vision and breathing hadn't been effected then...a caw had called her before, and now it was his hand. It isn't until now that she sees his change, crimson cloak cut so it doesn't cover his shoulders or arms...it has a high neck, black feather-like patterns near the tips. The front is cut off just above his hips, a large triangle at the end of the largest part covering his chest with another off to each side, but went almost to his knees at the back. "Um..." She blinked at him.

"Confused Kiddo?" The black haired man asked with a laugh, getting a nod. A pair of black boots, simple in design with black zippers outside and reaching his midcalf, had replaced the dressy shoes...and that was it. A cloak and boots were all that had changed. "I had a couple mages I know make some civilian-like clothes for me, I prefer them to those stuffy old robes. My old mentor said I needed to dress more like a mage, so I got the cloak." She laughed this time, weak thanks to her head still feeling a little off, that sounded like her uncle alright. "Alright." He finally smiled a little, and she wondered if it's because she laughed...she missed it either way. "Let's get going before they decide to hall us back with the cargo." Another laugh, just because he seems to like it, before she puts her palms against the floor and shoves down hard to push herself up. Everything went black and her vision spun the moment her knees are off the ground.

~FM~

When Ruby is able to see again she doesn't know how long it's been or where she is any more than what had happened, the bed she's on is plain with another equally simple one on the other side of the sparsely decorated room. Even the room was made of wood, nothing special except the also wood changing curtains in one corner. The little girl's head hurt, but it didn't feel off like before so it must be for the better. Tiny hands pushed their owner up far slower this time, not wanting a repeat of last time.

"Of course she'd ask right after I get an apprentice." She had just fully sat up and moved her feet to dangle over the edge of the bed when a familiar annoyed grumble hit her ears. "Right when I could use some-oh, you're finally up. Was wondering how long it'd effect you Kiddo." Qrow stopped whatever he was saying the moment the door opened and he saw her sitting on the bed, giving a slight smile.

"...What happened?" The silver eyed girl remembered her uncle saying it was time to get off the ship, but anything beyond that was gone.

"Looks like your magic acted up when I didn't answer you before. It kept getting stronger until it was enough to latch onto the wood of the ship, since there weren't any living plants nearby. Ended up being a lot more than the first time, and your body isn't used to it yet. You passed out the moment you tried to get up." He tried his best to explain it, but she knew this wasn't what he was good at.

"And..."

"The room? The local inn. Wasn't sure how long you'd be out. You're too young yet to get a room to yourself." The red eyed man told her, getting a nod. "Got these for you." He tossed a bundle wrapped in red cloth at her before she could even question it.

"New clothes?" The redhead asked excitedly as she unwrapped the bundle, eyes lighting up...he took a swig of his flask.

"I'm not getting lectured again 'cause I didn't give you better clothes." The black haired man drawled, she wanted to ask who would lecture him but like with a lot of things lately he didn't look in the mood to answer. "Well, you gonna try them on or what?" The child's attention was brought suddenly back to her new clothes, nodding frantically.

"Thank you Uncle Qrow!" She exclaimed with a large grin, grabbing at her shirt to pull off.

"No thank needed Kidd-whoa, whoa, whoa!" The panic in his voice drew her attention, shirt half pulled up...his eyes were wide, snapping to the side the moment she looked at him and he looked really uncomfortable.

"You okay?" The pale girl asked, wondering if she had done something wrong.

"Y-yeah, Kiddo, just...uh...go behind that curtain there to change, will you?" She looked at it when he makes a gesture to it, still not looking at her, and blinked.

"Daddy doesn't make me use mine." A groan and grumble, another drink from the flask. It last for several long moments before he pulls it away and screws the cap back on.

"I'm taking care of you now, so forget what Tai would or wouldn't let you do. You'll appreciate this when your older, now go change." Ruby nods, realizing it was better to just agree, carefully standing before running behind the curtain.

 _Pretty..._ She can't help but think as the dress is slipped over her head, adjusting it to fit right. It was black and had overlapping pieces of fabric like the petals of an upside-down rose, reaching a little past her mid thigh with a belt like a red vine around her waist. The sleeves had the shoulders cut out but were still attached, the same upside-down rose petal fabric pieces reaching past her hands.

"It's not too small, is it?" Qrow called, the red boots that looked like a bunch of vines covering her feet and calves pulled into place.

"Nope!" Finally was the cloak, simple in it's red design with black trim, a silver chain attached at the front to hold it together...it reached almost to her knees and the hood was far too big, but it was warm and oh so soft, she adored it anyway. The whole thing looked so nice, her sister would have squealed and given her a tight hug. "It's so pretty!" The redhead grinned even wider than before as she stepped back into the main room and gave a childish twirl, her uncle chuckling.

"That cloak's way too big, figured it was easier to get one you won't grow out of so fast...maybe it's TOO big-" The black haired man looked surprised when she griped as much of the red fabric as her little hands can hold, pulling it closer to her body.

"I love it!" He gave a caw of laughter like on the boat, and she liked it a lot more than the drinking or grumbling.

"Alright, alright, you can keep it."

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 **We've never really been shown a lot of Ruby and Qrow's relationship before the Fall of Beacon, only really shown childish adoration and playing games...nothing of their time with her while he's training her with a scythe. One of the things I noticed about Canon!Ruby is that she seems surprisingly in touch with the emotions of others, considering how childish she acts; we also see her annoyed with her uncle's drinking at one point, which leads me to believe this ability was picked up from Tai during his depression and being around her uncle so Qrow. It was this thought that had me trying to keep her child-like, but knowing when to not ask questions and prefering him smiling.**

 **For those wondering...no, Qrow isn't good at this XD He never really expected to have to mentor Ruby, having thought Summer would do it...after she died he just never wanted to think about it. The next chapter will be somewhat during this chapter, maybe a little continuing, but more in a sudo-Qrow POV like how this is sudo-Ruby POV and the first chapter was sudo-Tai POV.**


	3. Thorn of Roses

**So...this is literally twice as long as the previous chapter, despite being the same but from a different perspective XD Not sure if I should warn you guys or not, but this got a LOT sadder than I planned, to the point that I had myself crying. Hope that doesn't happen to you guys, and that you enjoy. Read and Review!**

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Qrow found himself sighing as he leaned against the cabins of the boat, it had been a few hours since he and Ruby had left Tai's house and the port nearby but time had passed at a horribly grueling pace...her constant sobbing since they had taken off definitely didn't help any. She wasn't the first new mage to have that reaction.

"That girl has been crying for hours..." A woman nearby pointed out softly, probably trying to make sure she didn't hear.

"Her guardian should be controlling this." The man beside the woman hissed, the red eyed man letting out a scoff before taking a sip from his flask.

 _Like I'd be able to stop her._ He thought in annoyance, taking another sip to distract himself. Civilians were always irritating, acting like the world revolved around them...if anything the problems of the world did, civilians were the ones who drew Grimm.

"Perhaps her guardian dumped her off on the boat?" Pale fingers twitched, wanting to grip the sword currently hanging from his sleeve as a small charm, the very idea making him far more angry than he had anticipated.

"Such an emotional child isn't worth the danger." The other man agreed, and he decided he was done with these people.

"Leave the kid alone!" The black haired man's voice came out like a gravelly caw...if Summer was around she'd lecture him for snapping at civilians, even if it was to protect her daughter. Such thoughts of that woman caused his anger to fade away, leaving only sadness behind.

"She's going to draw Grimm to us!" The man from before disagreed with a harsh glare, the mage man taking a chug from the flask to help dull the pain from his memories. He ran his free hand through his hair as he returned the flask to his belt, reaching farther back to pull his emblem from his back pocket, cape moving aside with a 'woosh'.

"A...a mage?" The woman who dared to suggest he'd dumped his niece here at least had the decency to sound afraid, after how angrily he'd reacted. Qrow began walking towards the still crying little girl, knowing full well the question someone was bound to ask.

"Why would a mage wear civilian clothing?!" A second man demanded, he hadn't quite made it to her when it was.

"It's easier to ride on boats like this without them, so I can see my little niece here." The black haired man explained when he stopped and gestured to the one he was now beside, keeping as much mocking or annoyance from his voice as he could despite how obvious the answer was. "My new little apprentice."

"She's a mage too?" The woman asked, startled eyes wide from the information.

"Just awoke to her magic today." He confirmed, eyes narrowing at their fellow passangers. "First time leaving home to boot." They murmur among themselves before apologizing, far too softly considering the cruel things they had said but he lets it drop anyway, in moments the two mages are alone.

"I-I'm sorry." Ruby sniffled and her uncle knew she must be trying to stop after the scene those civilians had caused, he placed his hand carefully atop her head before gently ruffling her hair.

"It's alright Kiddo." He struggled to keep his voice soft and comforting, but she needed it more than his usual tones...he had to be gentle with her for now, he could work on being 'harsher' when she understood the world and her new powers more. "Most mages have this happen. It's hard leaving home at your age." The red eyed man had seen more than enough young mages in his time to see that.

"...Hey Uncle?" The pale girl spoke after several minutes of silence, he hadn't dared to move his hand since it seemed to be helping her.

"Yeah Kiddo?"

"I heard your cape move...how did you show your a mage?" The red loving girl asked, looking up at him with horribly puffed up eyes...it made his heart tug far more than he wanted.

"Right...Tai never told you any of this stuff." The adult grumbled, taking a sip from his flask. _Summer wasn't around to tell her this stuff...Tai just ignored it, same as me._ A stupid decision, neither wanted to do what her mother had always planned to. "Normally mages wear special clothes to show who we are, made for fighting Grimm...I wear civilian clothes when I'm on Patch, so you've never seen me in them. I'll be getting you some once we dock." He had never had much interest in drawing unnecessary attention to himself on these trips. A quick glance at her showed a nod. "As for how to tell if one is wearing civilian clothes..." The emblem felt heavier in his hand when he pulled it out the second time, emotions effecting his mind and senses, holding it up to show.

"That looks so cool!" The little girl exclaimed, eyes suddenly filled with wonder...this mentoring thing was going to be hell with so many little things causing the mage to think of her mother.

"It's called an 'Emblem' Kiddo, all registered mages have one...most wear them on their clothes. Gold or silver show a mage, and each one is made by their owner." He explained, leaving out the bronze and copper emblems for another day.

"What was Mommy's?" The question startled him, though he blinked instead of allowing his eyes to widen.

"I didn't know your dad told you she was a mage."

"He didn't." His new apprentice admitted, giving a sheepish smile. "But when Daddy saw the roots he said I was just like Mommy." He released a caw of laughter, not only had she heard something the blond hadn't meant for her to but she was smart enough to piece together what it meant...the laughter stopped when he can see the familiar emblem behind his closed eyes, detailed despite that he hadn't seen it in two years.

"A rose...a silver rose."

~FM~

Qrow doesn't bother 'changing' into his mage clothes over the next few days on the ship, despite that everyone aboard now knew he's a mage. He didn't even change into pajamas when he went to bed, instead just collapsing into it, as had become routine over the past two years...of course; he's normally so drunk he can't even remember his own damn name, but the little apprentice needed him to be there emotionally for her. The man can't drink himself stupid before bed anymore to keep the nightmares away, leaving his sleep fitful and almost useless...at least she's a heavy sleeper.

It took a few careful seconds to detach the red cape from the hooks on his shirt, fingers unwilling to rip where it attached.

 _|Flashback|_

 _"A...cape?" Qrow looked up from the prestige red cloth in his hand, secretly surprised by the softness of the durable fabric._

 _"Yeah!" Summer grinned excitedly at her fellow apprentice. "It fits the 'lone warrior' act of yours." He wanted to tell her it wasn't an act, but couldn't bring himself to when she had that amused glint in her eyes._

 _"...So, how do we get it on then?" The silver eyed teenager practically bounced on her toes, eyes alight with joy, clearly happy he was at least humoring her._

 _"The hooks on your shirt!" It took the red eyed one a moment to realize why that sounded wrong._

 _"Since when were there hooks on my shirt?" He questioned, cape taken from him before he could so much as blink._

 _"I added them." Small tugs reveals the cape hooking in, one of his hands reaching under his collar to feel small hooks that he KNEW weren't there when he got to this place._

 _"When did you do that?!" The black haired man demanded, laughter bubbling up from her throat at his panic._

 _"You're a surprisingly heavy sleeper." The redhead laughed, he tried to ignore how his face burned at the thought of her sneaking into his room while he slept...it didn't make him nearly as uncomfortable as it should have._

 _|End of Flashback|_

Qrow's body had frozen at the memory, eyes closing with a deep sigh. He took a long drink from the flask as he tossed the cape onto the nearby bed, slightly grateful they had reached port since it was almost empty.

"Two years...hard to believe Short-stack." His voice left his throat on it's own, a low grumble that even someone beside him wouldn't have understood. He retrieved his cloak and boots from an enchanted bag, easily slipping them into place before dropping his shoes inside. It wasn't until he turned to pick up and pack away the cape that he noticed just how tattered it had become from two years of neglect, slowly running his finger along tears sewn together so well they were nearly impossible to spot.

 _|Flashback|_

 _"How did you already rip it?" Summer pouted as she looked at the long tear in his only hours old cape, his eyes refusing to look at her...how could someone who was almost an adult look so adorable with a pout?_

 _"It got caught." Qrow responded simply, hoping to brush off the conversation._

 _"On what?" He didn't think she'd let him. "...On what, Qrow?" She repeated when he didn't answer after a few second...a few more and she pulled away with the fabric, red eyes saw silver look down from the corner of his eye. "...If you don't like it-"_

 _"...bush." The redhead's sad expression was too much for him to bare._

 _"What?" She blinked and looked back up at him, confusion taking over the sadness._

 _"One of the rose bushes outside." The black haired teen admitted with a sigh, eyes darting to the side again. He heard the sudden snort, not even a second before she began that light laughter._

 _"A ROSE bush?" The emphasis she put on the flower made it obvious why she found it so amusing._

 _"I am fully aware of the irony." He huffed, though it only made her laugh more._

 _"Sorry, sorry." The white cloaked teen sure didn't sound it, considering she was still laughing, but the glee she seemed to be feeling was infectious._

 _"I'm sure you are." The well dressed teen responded sarcastically, smiling despite that she was making fun of him._

 _"I'll make it up by fixing your cape for you."_

 _"Just this once?" He questioned, her eyes widening slightly._

 _"Uh..." She'd obviously been caught off guard. "I can always be the one to fix it, if you want." He grinned._

 _"Sounds like a plan Short-stack." A playful frown was directed at the male mage, a grin quickly replacing it._

 _"Alright Tweets."_

 _"Crows don't even tweet!"_

 _|End of Flashback|_

Qrow had kept that deal, never allowing anyone but the one who gave him the cape fix it...it had become tattered without the woman keeping it in good repair, but at least he wasn't always wearing it. The sudden creaking drew his attention towards the door, which looked like it was trying to pull towards something on the other side...

"Shit, Ruby!" Of course she would come to get him once they docked, and with his mind in it's memories he hadn't heard any knocking or calling. The poor kid must have been freaking out bad. The red eyed man shoved the cape into the enchanted bag, snatching it up and darting to the door to slam it open. The several pieces of wood from the hallway behind the little girl had snapped off, planks of red glowing wood wrapped around her kneeling body in an attempt to protect her.

"..." Ruby's body let out a small whine, not breathing and eyes so unfocused he already knew she couldn't hear him.

"I'm done Kiddo." The mage assured her, allowing magic to flow into his right hand. It glowed slightly as he held the palm towards the broken planks, wrapping his own around them. "Shit." He cursed softly when her magic pushed his away, keeping herself protected. The man closed his eyes and focused on the magic from his niece flowing into the wood, building up his own before cutting through the connection...without her magic they clattered to the ground, his own easily grabbing them and fitting them back into place as he placed his hand on her head. A gasp showed that her attention has returned, relief flooding his system. "It took me longer than I expected to get changed...didn't mean to make you worry."

"Um..." She blinked at him.

"Confused Kiddo?" The black haired man laughed when he saw her eyes looking over him, getting a nod. "I had a couple mages I know make some civilian-like clothes for me, I prefer them to those stuffy old robes. My old mentor said I needed to dress more like a mage, so I got the cloak."

 _"If you refuse to look the part I refuse to teach you."_ Oz hadn't shut up about it for weeks, it was only when he refused to continue teaching the younger that he finally complied.

"Alright." He smiles a little at the thought. "Let's get going before they decide to hall us back with the cargo." His apprentice laughs again as she goes to push herself off the floor, he hadn't stopped to think of the repercussions of so much magic until she collapsed back down and her eyes closed. The pale man lets out another curse, kneeling down and picking up the small body to carry outside.

~FM~

Qrow rented a room at the local inn of Tract, the port town they had docked in, before leaving Ruby on the bed he got for her. He cast every protection spell and charm he knew, even if it did border on a vice for him, unwilling to let something happen to her just because he needed to go get her clothes...it would stop any civilians or utilizers completely, and most mages wouldn't bother with that many spells.

As often as he had been in Tract there had never been any attention paid to any shops or stalls that sold mage clothes, causing the mage to scan the street and signs as he walked towards the dock again, where the best bar in town was.

"Ah, you're the mage who was carrying that little girl, are you not?" Red eyes snapped to the side, seeing a stall with some clothing on display...what he saw was civilian clothes, but he could feel the magic and enchantments of mage clothing behind the shown stall. The tall man at the stall had grey hair with a huge bald spot on the top of his head, smiling face covered in wrinkles as his eyes remained closed...a blind old mage, from the look of it.

"You noticed?" The younger took a step towards the stall, still weary.

"This isn't anywhere near the first time you've passed through this little town, is it Archmage?" The black haired man sighed.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't say that too loud, don't need the Kiddo finding out yet." The gray haired man nodded in understanding.

"Of course." The older gestured behind him. "Need clothes for that little girl?" The cloaked man raised an eyebrow curiously, not responding. "Ah, wondering how I know? Patch doesn't have a shop for mage clothes, I'd feel them pass through to the dock to be shipped. The last mage family that lived there left some fifteen years ago, the Rose family if I remember right." He didn't know why the mention of his niece's grandparents startled him, not like he wasn't aware her mother been from the island.

"Been around here for a while, huh?" The 'archmage' asked, getting a small smile and nod. "Yeah, I could use something for her...a big cloak though, so I won't have to keep getting her new ones."

"What is her proficiency?" The blind mage questioned.

"Plants." The grin the black and red mage got was almost sad, catching him off guard.

"I believe I have just the outfit." The old one murmured, knocking on the back panel...a section opening for him. A few moment of rumagging out of sight before the shopkeeper returned, placing a black and red outfit before the customer.

"Colours are perfect ac-" His breathing stopped as he moved aside the simple red hooded cloak, a black dress revealed to him...a black upsidedown rose, sleeves missing shoulders and a red belt like the thorny stem of the flower and boots of the same red thorny stems. The belt should have been white, the tips of the 'petals' too...but he'd seen this dress before, much bigger. "Summer..." The name left his mouth without permission, breath hitching as tears flooded into his eyes. It was almost a perfect copy, it even had the same enchantments on it, though there was another added.

"Three years ago a young Rose showed up at this stall, asking for a very specific design for clothing. The magic coming off her clothes made it easy enough to sense what it looked like, and she requested a copy...only much smaller, with red instead of white, a friend helped with the dying. When I asked why she told me she wanted to be prepared, should her daughter get magic as well." The usually drunk man couldn't believe he was crying in the middle of the damn street in broad daylight, body shaking with silent sobs, but it was just such a SUMMER thing to do that it hurt.

"It...it's still...here..." His body was refusing to listen to any commands, he hadn't let himself cry in days thanks to his new little tag along.

"I told her I would keep it until her daughter came, added an enchantment so it will always fit the wearer. She tried to pay me, but I told her I wouldn't accept payment when she may never need it...at least if she didn't come back in five or six years I'd know it wasn't needed and could sell it to someone else." Even if the old man hadn't opened his eyes it was obvious he would be looking downward, sad from his own words. "Last I felt of her was two years ago, she stopped for a minute to chat on her way through..." He didn't continue, and for that the other was grateful. "...That was the Rose's daughter in your arms earlier, wasn't it? The magic felt quite similar..."

"Y-yeah..." The crying man choked on the answer. "Ruby...name's Ruby."

"Ruby Rose...it's a lovely name. With a mentor like you I'm sure she'll be a wonderful mage." The smile was kindly, and even if he didn't believe it he damn well appreciated the sentiment. "I set up a small illusion, my proficiency ironically...no one can hear or see you beyond me."

"...Thanks." And he collapsed in tears.

~FM~

Qrow had no idea how long he'd been crying in front of the stall, only that his eyes were horribly puffed by the time he finally got his emotions under control again. When he tried to pay for the clothes the old man had simply shook his head, the usual drunk knew better by now than to argue people giving mages things for free; it was usually civilians who gave free things though. He had to cast his own small illusion on his eyes to hide their current state, going to the bar with the clothes wrapped up in the new cloak. A waitress there with dark brown hair and goldish eyes had flirted blatantly with him, though he had to turn down her invite for 'getting to know one another tonight'...the flask was refilled before he muttered a half-assed apology to the woman and left.

"Of course she'd ask right after I get an apprentice." He laments lowly as he walked up to their inn room, beginning to dispell everything he had set up. "Right when I could use some-oh, you're finally up. Was wondering how long it'd effect you Kiddo." The black haired man stops his spoken thoughts when he saw Ruby sitting on her bed, quickly changing to something more appropriate and sending her a slight smile.

"...What happened?" The redhead frowned a bit, he can see she's struggling to try and remember.

"Looks like your magic acted up when I didn't answer you before. It kept getting stronger until it was enough to latch onto the wood of the ship, since there weren't any living plants nearby. Ended up being a lot more than the first time, and your body isn't used to it yet. You passed out the moment you tried to get up." He tried to remember how Oz explains magic to new kids, but it doesn't sound quite right when he says it...hopefully it's easy enough to understand anyway.

"And..." Silver eyes darted around the room, question obvious.

"The room? The local inn. Wasn't sure how long you'd be out. You're too young yet to get a room to yourself." The red eyed man explained, his niece giving a nod. "Got these for you." He doesn't want to look as he tossed the cloak wrapped bundle at her, he had to prepare himself as it was.

"New clothes?" Her eyes light up when she asks, he's been remembering way too much lately to deal with this...he took a swig of his flask, hoping the taste at least would dull the slight throb in his chest at the familiar sight.

"I'm not getting lectured again 'cause I didn't give you better clothes." The mage drawled. "Well, you gonna try them on or what?" He asks when he doesn't hear any rustling.

"Thank you Uncle Qrow!" The pale girl sounds exstatic, and he tries to smile at the sound but it feels fake.

"No thank needed Kidd-whoa, whoa, whoa!" The mentor turned his attention back to her, panicking the moment he sees her starting to lift her shirt over her head and quickly snaps his eyes away.

"You okay?" She asked, and all he could think was why she thought that was ok?! He'd never even helped change Yang, too uncomfortable with looking at such tiny and innocent girls without clothes...it's the first time since they started this damn journey that he isn't thinking about how much she looks like her mom.

"Y-yeah, Kiddo, just...uh...go behind that curtain there to change, will you?" A gesture to the changing curtain he'd been sure to pay extra for.

"Daddy doesn't make me use mine." Qrow lets out a groan and grumble, taking a very long drink from the flask, because of COURSE Tai wouldn't care about that yet.

"I'm taking care of you now, so forget what Tai would or wouldn't let you do. You'll appreciate this when your older, now go change." Might as well start coming up with basic ground rules now, he's glad there's no argument as she runs behind the curtain. He wonders if his new apprentice will recognize the clothes, though he doubts it...her mom usually wore civilian clothes around the house and in the picture of her they had, mage outfit saved for when she had a job to do.

"It's not too small, is it?" The man called after several moments, remembering what the shopkeeper had said about a fitting enchantment and silently cursing the pointlessness of the question.

"Nope!" He's glad she sounds happy at least. "It's so pretty!" Ruby grined one of the largest he may have seen from her as she stepped back into the main room and gave a childish twirl, her uncle chuckling...guess she didn't recognize it, but that might be for the best. The black haired man paused for a second as he noticed the cloak, looking like it was about to fall off her shoulders at any given time.

"That cloak's way too big, figured it was easier to get one you won't grow out of so fast...maybe it's TOO big-" He's caught rather off-guard when she griped as much of the red fabric as her tiny hands can hold, pulling it closer to her body.

"I love it!" The mage laughed at her answer and the accompanying pout, despite that his chest hurts again at the sight.

"Alright, alright, you can keep it."

* * *

 **I was actually surprised no one brought up that Qrow took so long to change, despite his mage clothes being just a cloak and boots...well, nonetheless, here's the reason. He uses/mentions more than one term/event here that we don't know yet, but it felt weird explaining things in text that he already knows. These things will be brought up in time, of course, now just didn't feel like like the right one. And GOD, I ended up making his relationship with Summer (whatever it was exactly) way more heartfelt than I thought it would be...Hope you all enjoyed, see you soon!**


	4. Mind of Magic

**I know I'm a tragedy writer and all. But I don't know how this happened. This chapter was supposed to be happy. It turned out like this. This needs to stop. Someone send help. Hope you enjoy anyway. Read and review.**

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The duo prepare to leave Tract on foot the next day, the child watching her uncle pack food and bottles of water into a sack that should have been far too small for any of it to fit in...just another thing she couldn't bring herself to ask about after noticing his sad expression while she adjusted her dress that morning, though she can guess it's magic. She only spoke three times the first day of travel, ten or so words all together. The second day she's a bit more talkative, but it's still just five times before he seems to notice.

"It ain't like you to be so quiet Kiddo." Qrow pointed out halfway through the second day, drawing her attention.

"No reason." Ruby responded, giving a small smile when he turns his head to look at her...he shrugs, looking forward again.

"...So...ready to try using your magic?" The question is asked after another hour or two of silence, silver eyes widening.

"I-is it ok?" She asked, getting another shrug.

"Never mentored anyone before." The red-eyed man admitted. "Seems a pretty good starting point though." He adds, getting a thoughtful look for a few moments before finally receiving a nod.

"Can we start now?" The redhead bounces on her toes excitedly, hearing a chuckle.

"Sure Kiddo." The black haired man looked around to find a suitable tree, and grinned as soon as he did.

~FM~

Considering Qrow had fully admitted to never trying to teach someone Ruby isn't really sure WHY she expected things to turn out any differently, to be fair...he DOES seem surprised with an exploding tree, but she's pretty sure that's not what she was supposed to do. He had told her to focus on the tree, pull at the 'energy' in her chest and let the magic do the rest. She explodes three more, apparently from the inside, before he finally snaps at her to stop.

"I didn't even know plant mages could DO that..." The man grumbled, the girl immediately knowing it wasn't something she was supposed to hear...she tried to keep the rapidly growing panic under control but she's really too young to know how yet; if he didn't know that meant her mom had never done it, and that might mean there was something wrong with the new little mage.

"Sorry..." The word leaves the trembling child's mouth; she can hear the vines moving through dirt like snakes and it only makes it worse.

"Ruby!" When she opened her eyes she found herself trapped by a dome of the exploded pieces of the trees, all glowing a soft red. She screeched when the attempt to move her feet was stopped by the vines she had heard earlier pinning her in place. "RUBY!" The redhead barely hears her uncle, trying to forcefully pull her legs from the vines trapping her...they only tighten with each tug. Her brain starts thinking she can't breathe again, she's trapped, and all it does is make her panic more.

"Un...cle. Q...row..." She's sobbing now, like the child she is, wanting out.

"R...by!" His voice is getting farther away, she can't feel or hear the vines anymore. All that's in this place is her and the glow...it's slow, but she doesn't feel scared anymore. She can't remember why she was scared in the first place.

"..." Someone is calling out but she doesn't know who, can't hear them but knows that they are anyway. They must be lost, if they are on this place. It's just her and her magic here, after all.

"My...shoulder...?" There's an odd feeling in the front of her right shoulder that keeps appearing and disappearing, and it takes a moment for her to realize it feels like it's being slammed against repeatedly. The left hand reaches over to touch it, it's thumping with the odd feeling that's almost like pain. All she can feel is that thumping, she knows there should be something else under her fingers but it doesn't register. The movement is slow as she tries to feel along the shoulder towards her neck, her senses still can't feel anything. The tingle is sudden as the tips touch something around her neck, slowly tightening around it. The glow is red, so soft it barely helps with seeing things, but the idea of seeing what is making her feel again is strong enough to try tugging it off.

 _"And I want it back when you come back."_ A voice echoes through her head that she suddenly recognizes as Yang's, mind snapping back to reality. Her magic had surrounded her, Ruby realizes absently, a wood chip barrier surrounding her while vines cover her torso as well. The magic must be tired out, because suddenly the barrier stops glowing and shatters back to chips. The moment it fell Qrow is holding her; all her senses were still a little muddled but she could FEEL him, feel his heartbeat hammering against her. She's pretty sure he's cursing again, a lot, but it just sounds like buzzing to her ears.

"-lost you Kiddo." There is no reassurance in his voice right now, but the relief that is there is close enough. The redhead clings to him all the tighter, body still shaking with absolute terror...she isn't tired, not like the last time she used her magic, but she doesn't want to ask about it. The little girl never wants to think about that ever again. "You...you ok?" All she gave was an almost panicked shake of her head and holding his shirt so tight her hands start to hurt. "Geez..." It may have taken hours or mere minutes before the little 'mage' is any sort of calm again, the man simply holding her the whole time.

"...How...?" She wants nothing to do with magic anymore, she just wants to go home. She isn't as strong as her mom or uncle, she can't do this. Still too scared to get out the question of how they'll get back home, he misinterpreted her question.

"Magic can be a dangerous thing Kiddo." Silver eyes were clenched shut, their owner didn't want to hear this. "It was never really meant for people like us." Even the part of her that had been curious and excited about her new powers is gone, only that terror left behind and she doesn't understand how the red eyed man can't tell she wanted him to stop! "It can strip you of your very mind if you let it." She can't make sense of what he's saying, but she doesn't want to anyway.

"...op..." The child's voice is soft, too soft since he didn't seem to hear her.

"You can't let yourself be so afraid again, can't lose control like that, ok?" A frantic nod, and he just sighed. There are a few seconds of silence; movement save her arms and neck impossible with the vines still in the way, before she feels them shoot back into the ground. "Alright, let get-" The black haired man paused during his attempt to stand again when she tightened her hold on his shirt, looking down. A shaking hand moved to point the way they came, eyes still not open...he sighed a second time, unable to reach his flask. "I...Ruby, you can't just go back home." The voice is too sad, but she doesn't care anymore.

"...Wanna..." Ruby managed to murmur.

"I know Kiddo...but what just happened won't change that you could hurt your family." She whined, and he let out an almost pained noise of his own. " Listen. We're gonna...gonna get some help, for teaching you to control yourself. And once you can control your magic you can go home, okay?" The little girl was still, silent, for what felt like forever to her.

"...Ok." The answer was simple, but it was enough, a warm hand placed on her head again...it helped return her breathing to normal, though she hadn't noticed it wasn't. Her uncle stood up and dusted them both off carefully with his free hand, pulling up the far too big hood in hopes it will help comfort the child, before turning away from her.

"My old mentor'll know what to do." His niece's left hand stopped him by snapping out to grab his cloak, causing him to look at her again.

"...Want you." The silver eyed girl's voice was still weak, it took him a moment to realize why she suddenly seemed to be panicking again.

"No worries Kiddo." She likes his hand on her head, likes the warmth and how it makes her feel safe, she's happy he does it again with a laugh. "I'm still your mentor. He's just gonna tell me how to do this." A slow nod is given before the two start walking again, wood chips left behind like the bitter memories they would bring, a tiny hand refusing to release the cloak or pull down the hood.

* * *

 **This really wasn't supposed to get so emotional, or frightening...it just happened. I don't want to make too much of a habit of having chapters like 2-3 (two perspectives of the same chapter), but my husband REALLY wants to know what Qrow was doing while the barrier was up. So, that will be a thing. Hopefully I won't do it much more. Hope you all enjoyed, see you soon!**


	5. Soul of Magic

**So...it took me longer to rewrite the last chapter from Qrow's perspective than it did to write the original chapter...I'm not gonna think too hard on that one. I want you all to remember that this is a world of magic, not technology. Read and review, and I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

The man found himself hoping that the gnawing pain his niece often brought due to her similarities to her mother would fade with time, trying to ignore how his heart wanted to respond while she tugged at her dress to adjust it the next morning. They prepared to leave Tract on foot, he put the water bottles and food he had gotten before she awoke into his main pouch...he kept a basic count of weight, making sure not to go over the 50lbs limit of the enchantment even with everything he already had in there.

It's not until after the mage's apprentice fell asleep, curled up in his feather patterned sleeping bag beside the campfire (because it's not like this is the first time Short-stack forgot her-...that's not her), that he finally notices he's barely heard her voice that day. He didn't mention it the next morning, but he does keep track, finally through with keeping his mouth shut when she's only used her voice five times by midday.

"It ain't like you to be so quiet Kiddo." Qrow finally mentioned, causing her to blink at him.

"No reason." Ruby responded, he had to stop a frown from appearing on his face when he looked back to see a false looking smile...instead the response was a shrug, knowing any attempt to push the issue may keep the answer further away. Thoughts trickled through the mind of something to help lighten the mood...

"...So...ready to try using your magic?" It took the black haired man a little over an hour to come up with the idea, embarrassing considering he was supposed to be her mentor.

"I-is it ok?" She sounded nervous, causing him to shrug a second time...WAS it ok? Would Oz have done it?

"Never mentored anyone before." He admitted. "Seems a pretty good starting point though." The red-eyed man adds, how was he supposed to teach her anything if he never had her try? He looked back to see the redhead have a thoughtfully expression, she nodded after a few moments.

"Can we start now?" He chuckled as he watched her bounce on her toes in excitement, it would make it a lot easier to teach her.

"Sure Kiddo." The black haired man agreed before he actually looked for a spot, he was grateful he found a suitable tree after a glance around.

~FM~

"Alright, focus on the tree...pretend it's the only thing in the world." Qrow knows he really has no idea what he was doing, but there were mages like him who learned to control all on their own...he'd just tell her how he learned. "Now, you should feel a sort of 'energy' in your chest. Pull at it, and the magic will do the rest-" He's cut off by the tree his niece had been focusing on exploding, eyes widening in surprise. She tries three more times. "Stop! You're breaking them from the inside!" The tone is like a snap, far harsher than intended.

"O-oh..." The man barely hears her.

"I didn't even know plant mages could DO that..." He grumbled, trying to figure out where his 'teaching' had gone so wrong.

"Sorry..." Ruby said softly, and of course she was scared with him yelling at her like that. The mage turned his attention to her, mouth open as he was about to speak...only to feel his chest tighten in fear at seeing the wood chips she made surrounding her in a softly red glowing barrier.

"Ruby!" He needs to think of something, he doesn't know why she's doing this but it can't be good. What would Oz-she screeched suddenly and his breathing stops, mind racing in terror. "RUBY!" The little girl is panicking too much, too quickly. The black haired man needs to get her back. He desperately forceed his magic into his hands, trying to cut her connection with the barrier...there is no magic link outside, she's within it there's no way there would be. Building panic makes him slam as much magic as he can against it, hoping the sheer power would do something...his magic slides of without doing a thing.

An enraged caw left the uncle's throat, ripping his sword from it's connector on his sleeve...it grows to be over half his size, as thick as his torso as it's broadsword form. He needs brute force right now and Harbinger, the scythe hanging as a charm from his belt loop, isn't going to help here. He channels the magic needed into his arms before running much like a madman at his target, slamming Presage down as hard as he could. The semi-sphere bends inward slightly before thrusting back into position with all the force he put into it, sending him tumbling back without warning. The sword-user's arms are already numb from that one strike, having it sent back didn't help, but he gets up and tries again anyway...too panicked to remember what he saw others do if this happened.

 _"I'm sorry Qrow."_ Slam _._

 _"The hell you apologizing for Oz?"_ Slam _._

 _"The magic you have."_ Slam _. "The magic Summer has."_ Slam _._

 _"...Wanna run that by me again?"_ Slam _._

 _"The magic mages wield wasn't meant for mortals Qrow."_ Sl-am _. "Utilizers are the same."_ Sl-am _._

 _"If it ain't meant for mortals why do we have it?"_ Sl-am _._

 _"When I gave magic to the Maidens I..."_ Sl-am _. "I never expected the magic, while not as powerful, would still pass on to their children even with the magic itself going to the next Maiden."_ Sl-am. S-la-m...

 _"Huh..."_ S-la-m. _.. "So things didn't go according to plan, so what?"_ S-la-m. _.._

 _"Magic was NOT meant for mortals._ " S-la-m... _"If a mortal loses control of 'their' magic..."_ S-la-m... _"...Their mind and soul can be torn from their body..."_

"I'M NOT LETTING THAT HAPPEN!" Qrow's strikes had gotten weaker, depleting magic and numbness in his arms taking it's toll, but he refused to give up. "I AIN'T LETTING HER JOIN YOU YET SHORT-STACK!" He pulls at the weakening magic as hard as he could, filling his arms and weapon, before bringing it down again...it shatters under the strike. Ruby is standing there, hand clutching the bandana her sister gave her, and he realizes what must have happened. He doesn't even feel himself move before he's wrapped his body around her desperately, already fallen to his knees with his sword left behind.

"..." The silver eyed girl lets out what sounds a lot like a squeak, but he doesn't care. She's HERE, he can hear her breathing and feel her shaking with his shirt in her hands.

"Gods, you have no idea how worried I was. I was so scared that I...I lost Kiddo." The red eyed man had forgotten the 'you' but that doesn't matter right now...she won't stop shaking. "You...you ok?" The only answer was an almost panicked shake of her head and tightening her hold on his shirt so much the knuckles started going white. "Geez..." The man doesn't know what else to do but hold her, though he tries to carefully pry her hands open so she isn't hurting herself. It feels like forever before the trembling dies down.

"...How...?" He wants to say his apprentice is too young for the answer, but every mage needed to know this.

"Magic can be a dangerous thing Kiddo." Her eyes clenched shut, so the black haired man holds her a little tighter. "It was never really meant for people like us." He's trying to explain as best he can, but he's really not the person for that. "It can strip you of your very mind if you let it." That conversation with his old mentor played through his head again, he forced the thoughts and fears away. "You can't let yourself be so afraid again, can't lose control like that, ok?" She gave frantic nod, and all the adult he could do was sigh. For a few seconds all is quiet, until he noticed the roots holding her, forcing them back into the ground with what was left of his magic.

"..."

"Alright, let get-" He tried to stand but had to stop when she tightened her hold on his shirt, turning his attention back to her. She let go with one hand to shakily point the way they came, eyes still not open...the black haired man sighed and clenched his own shut, trying to get to his flask but her arms are stopping him from reaching. "I...Ruby, you can't just go back home." His voice broke, just a bit...what he wouldn't give to let her go back after what just happened.

"...Wanna..." The little girl barely managed to murmur.

"I know Kiddo...but what just happened won't change that you could hurt your family." She whined, his throat let out an almost pained noise at the pain it caused in his chest. "Listen. We're gonna...gonna get some help, for teaching you to control yourself. And once you can control your magic you can go home, okay?" She doesn't move or say anything for an eternity, it felt like that anyway.

"...Ok." He smiled sadly, glad she couldn't see it, and placed a hand on her head. As soon as she let go he stood up and dusted them off with the hand that wasn't on her head, her uncle remembered that her mom used to find comfort in her hood so he pulled up hers, turning away from her immediately to not think more on the subject.

"My old mentor'll know what to do." Oz will know, Oz always knows...there it something holding his cloak, he looks down to find his niece.

"...Want you." Her voice was way too quiet now, he didn't like it. He was confused for a few moments about her panic, but inwardly chuckled when he realized it.

"No worries Kiddo." He laughed and put his hand over her hood. "I'm still your mentor. He's just gonna tell me how to do this." She gave a slow nod and finally they could continue on, a destination now in mind.

* * *

 **I swear I am managing to make Qrow more depressed every time we get to see things from his perspective...oops. I tried to write all of what Qrow was doing the the barrier, but it was just slamming Presage against it repeatedly while slightly modifying the angle and such, so I went with why he was panicking so bad in the first place. Hope you all enjoyed.**

 **P.S. ****Presage means an omen, usually bad** **...it fit with Harbinger, and both weapons being the same was impossible without the technology.**


	6. Village View

**This chapter may be a little short, partly due to how long I expect the next chapter to be and because I honestly had no idea how to start it. If it feels a little...off, that would be why. Sorry. Hope you all enjoy.**

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"You takin' that little Kiddy to Beacon?" It was early morning on the third day from reaching Tract that the mentor and apprentice reached another town, it was smaller than the port but everyone here seemed to know him.

"What else do I ever do?" Qrow laughed, his niece watching from under her hood as he spoke to a food vendor...neither seemed to notice her confused look, not having been told where they were headed yet or what it meant.

"Ozpin's sure good at havin' you do his dirty work." The other man laughed himself, his clothes were dirty and muscles were big enough for her to see...she guessed he was a farmer, with his 'stall' just a cart of food and a horse tied nearby.

"I'd hardly call Kiddo here 'dirty work'." The red eyed man disagreed, the farmer grinning widely. "How about you go get yourself a treat? It's just across from us." He pulled free a few lien coins without looking and dropped them into her hands, she turned to see a few small stands on the other side of the 'main road' they were on with one being the mentioned candy stall.

"...Ok Uncle Qrow." Ruby agreed with a smile, adjusting her hood a bit before heading over.

"You sensitive to the sun?" Her head moved slowly to look at who had spoken, finding a woman sitting in front of a sunglasses stall with a kind smile.

"Oh, n..." Silver eyes noticed a tinted pair of goggles, lenses black...it hadn't been intentional, but she ended up having a sort of experiment on her mentor. He tended to look sad if he was looking at her, so long as her hood was up or down. She had woken up one morning and rubbed sleepily at her eyes, seeing a smile that almost immediately faded when she opened them. From there the redhead had tried to see him while keeping her eyes as covered as she could, finding his sadness lessened whenever she did. "Goggles? Like those ones?"

"Ones that would fit you?" The woman asked, looking thoughtful. "Why would you want them? Sunglasses would be easier."

"Uncle's sad if he sees my eyes." The stall owner frowned slightly, eyes looking the child up and down.

"...May I see them? Your eyes I mean." She asked after several moments, small eyes looking downward for several moments before giving a nervous nod. The hood was adjusted just enough to get a clear view of the eyes, the older's own widening before looking at the man across the street. "You're...I mean no offence, but...am I right to think your mother was Miss Summer Rose?"

"You knew Mommy?" Ruby asked in excitement before looking over her shoulder, as though being sure she hadn't been heard by her uncle.

"Everyone living here knew your mother, she passed through here all the time. If she had time she'd stop to talk to us all." The woman gave a soft smile, though it had a hint of sadness that made her frown. "Mister Qrow Branwen was her fellow apprentice under the same mentor, so the two were almost always together. Looking into your eyes likely...brings back memories he may not be willing to think about yet." The silver eyed girl doesn't entirely get it, but she does to an extent...it must have been why her daddy got sad too, remembering her mommy.

"Will goggles help?" She questioned softly.

"You're a very kind little girl." The stall owner looked proud even though they'd never met before. "Your mother never wore any sort of eyewear, goggles would certainly help keep those memories away." The redhead felt hope fill her body at the words, the older sliding off the stool she sat on and kneeling to rummage out of sight. In moments the child was bouncing on her toes, trying her best to be patient for what she would be getting. "Here we go!"

"Can I see?" She questioned the moment the other called out, weight on her toes as she tried to see over the stall. A pair of pitch black goggles slid in front of her, the kind meant to only cover her eyes, straps a thick and stretchy red while the lenses were tinted crimson.

"Try them on." The woman insisted, causing the apprentice to quickly do as told. A mirror was held up, so she could look at herself...everything she saw had some red to it from the tint, even her eyes in the mirror looked more like blood than silver. Her face looked flushed with a blush, the crimson over her skin, but it wasn't actually as distracting as she'd thought. Glancing around revealed the frames didn't block much of her view, and the strap was easy even for her small hands and strength to adjust to the correct size.

"...My eyes still silver?" The goggled girl thought to ask after several moments of looking around and getting used to them, moving them bit by bit until they fit just right.

"They look red to me." The stall owner said, though the child lifted up the goggles from one side to check anyway...the one still covered looked a very dark pink, not quite red. Pulling the side back into place she reached for the coins her uncle had given her, only to have a hand gently grab her's. "No need to pay." The older insisted with a smile when she looked up.

"You sure?" The cloaked girl asked, getting a nod.

"Go get yourself that candy."

"Thank you very much!" Moving the hood to mostly cover the new goggles, hoping to surprise her mentor, the child smiled widely and moved to the other stall.

~FM~

"Didn't buy too much, did you?" Qrow asked when he walked over to his niece, who immediately shook her head.

"Got you honied seeds!" Ruby grinned widely as she held up the small bag as if it were some sort of prize, his eyes widening.

"Oh, uh..." He paused, didn't seem sure what to say. "...Thanks Kiddo." Her uncle smiled slightly, making her own even wider as he took his bag and popped a treat into his mouth. "You got some for yourself too, right?" Another bag was held up, almost double the size, small drops of sugar candy inside.

"Here's lien." The redhead pulled free two of the three coins given, he merely nodded...he kept looking at her hood. After several moments he reached out, grasping the edge.

"You can barely see with it that low." The black haired man grumbled, pulling it up only to freeze when the goggles became visible. "Wah..."

"Lady gave them to me!" She pointed to the sunglasses stall owner, pulling the hood off her head. "I really like them!" The grin now was so wide it hurt her cheeks, left hand pressed against the strap like it would keep him from taking them...the silver eyed girl didn't want to say why she had wanted them, worried it would make him sad.

"W-well...if you like them that much we'll get them enchanted, make sure you can't outgrow them." The almost frantic nod in response made him give that cawing laugh she liked. "Alright, we'll have that done when we get there." The red eyed man assured with a smile of his own, and she had to stop herself from bouncing or cheering when she realized her plan had worked. "There's no inn here, but I got what we'll need for the next few days. Let's go." It was the first time he held his hand out for her to hold, and she knew then without a doubt that she had made the right choice, grabbing it and following at his side.

* * *

 **In the show Qrow doesn't really seem to have any reaction to Ruby, not even something as unique as her eyes, but this is only two years after Summer died while that is more likely around ten. So...yeah, reasons. Hope you all enjoyed, see you soon.**

 **Also, Little Mage!Ruby is a god damn cinnamon roll and must be protected at all costs!**


	7. Beacon of Hope

**Stayed up until 7am finishing this, I only had the first quarter or so written out, so I hope you're all happy! Got Detective Pikachu as an early Easter present from my husband and totally forgot about writing ^^; Hope you all enjoy!**

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"And this," Qrow said in a very dramatic voice "is the Order of Beacon." Her eyes were wide in amazement at the pale gray three story building in front of her, a large clock tower gutting out the middle that towered over even the five story building not far off. Fire, lightning and rocks floated around it as though completely normal, ivy crawling up the walls of the building and into a few open windows while metal beams wiggled like they were dancing out front. Wild animals like deer and birds jumped/flew and weaved through courses that seem to have been built for them, several children nearby in groups of four with one adult each who seemed to be practicing their magic. The whole place looked more like something out of a storybook than reality to her.

"Woah..." Ruby breathed in amazement, they had walked passed a courtyard and down a pathway that was smoky gray with dark then pale grey on each side, lantern posts with no flames lining the path. Two separate sets of archways of almost white rocks and metal surrounded a circular lake the path seemed to have been built over, grass and a few trees on each side between the outer arches and lake. From the lake were arches of water like some sort of fancy fountain, passing through crystals of ice that hung in the air.

"Amazing, isn't it?" He agreed, sounding like it amazed him a little too. "12 years since I first got here, I even lived here for 4...and it still feels sorta unreal every time I see it." She nodded, still trying to take everything around her in.

"...The statues?" The redhead questioned, gesturing to the almost black statues of people along the front of the building.

"Powerful mages who were part of Beacon." The black haired man explained. "The most recent ones are beside the doorway." Neither of them point out the statue of a hooded woman with clothes like her on the left side of the door, features soft even if they were carved from stone. "Come on, Oz'll be wondering where I am."

"Ok!" The goggled girl grinned, following him through the doors as he pushed them open.

~FM~

"Hi Qrow." "Hello Qrow." "Welcome back Qrow." "Good to have you home Qrow." "Glad to see you weren't hurt Qrow." If the little girl thought everyone in the last village knowing her uncle was a little overwhelming this was downright uncomfortable, with each person the duo passed giving a greeting which he gave a simple wave in return to. She wondered, for a moment, why no one said anything about her... before remembering the man had admitted to bringing children here often. She pulled the hood further down her face, goggles visible but face covered by shadows from the sun streaming in the windows.

"Qrow!" He groaned while her head snapped to the childish voice, finding a girl with shoulder length bright orange hair flared up at the back a few feet down the hall. "It's about time!" The other little girl exclaimed, blue eyes narrow in annoyance.

"Go AWAY Nora." Qrow growled, a pout spreading across the new girl's face.

"Me and Renny worry 'bout you and the first thing you say is 'go away'?" A boy the goggled girl hadn't noticed until now stood silently beside the pouting child, black hair pinned up behind his head with a single streak of bright pink on the one side, pink eyes looking at her calmly. "How cruel!" 'Nora' suddenly exclaimed dramatically, hand even on her forehead and emphasizing the 'ue', causing the silver eyed one to jump slightly in surprise as her attention snapped back.

"Don't you have better things to do than botherin' me?" The red eyed man demanded harshly, glaring when the second girl grinned widely.

"Nope!" He released another groan, taking a long drink from his flask. "Renny's mentor is sick, so we have the day off."

"HE has the day off, not you." The black haired man corrected.

"We have the day off." The other girl repeated, causing another groan.

"Nora." 'Renny' had a slight accent, his voice somehow drawing the attention of his friend to the hooded girl.

"Wait...is this?" Blue eyes widened and excitement filled them, snapping to the man. "It is, isn't it?" She was bouncing on her toes like the black and redhaired girl whenever she was excited.

"It would seem." The boy agreed when her uncle didn't say anything.

"I'm Nora, this is Renny!" The grin got even bigger.

"Lie Ren. Call me Ren." The pink eyed child explained.

"O-oh...I'm-" Ruby began, almost immediately getting cut off.

"We-"

"Nora." The grin turned into a sheepish smile.

"Sorry. Go ahead." Silver eyes turned to look at her mentor, who looked irritated but nodded nonetheless.

"I'm Ruby Ro-"

"It is you!" She had a feeling the other cut people off a lot, which Daddy had said was rude...no one was scolding her though.

"Um... me?"

"You're S-"

"Nora!" The mage snapped, the orange haired girl stopped talking while his niece could only stare. He took a breath and another drink. "...Thought Oz'd tell you not to use her name so casually."

"Haha... he did." Nora admitted, giving an apologetic look. He gave her a sharp look. "Sorry."

"Look, I've gotta bring her to Oz-"

"We're coming too!" She insisted.

"Why would you-" Qrow cut himself off with a sigh. "Sure, come on. "

"Woohoo! Let's go Renny!" The boy nodded as the group started in the direction they had been headed earlier.

~FM~

The new mage had her ear talked off by the girl she had found out was older, almost everything she was saying was either too fast or stuff the younger didn't understand.

"How could you not teach her?!" Nora demanded of the man after he had said she didn't know what the other was talking about for the tenth or so time.

"We weren't going to try teaching her when she probably wouldn't even be a mage." Qrow explained with a sigh.

"But she is." The blue-eyed girl pointed out as they reached a large set of metal double doors.

"I know she is." The red eyed man stated as the door creaked and began opening on it's own. "But we didn't know she would be until her magic awoke."

"But she is." She repeated.

"I just...why am I trying to argue with you?" He questioned after a moment of thought, the open door revealing a woman with light blonde hair tied in a bun and robes of white and purple sitting at a desk with a wall of solid rock beside her.

"I don't know, but it seems pretty stupid." The orange haired child grinned when he groaned again, the woman looking them over.

"Hello Qrow, Miss Valkyrie, Mister Ren." The three gave their own greetings. "And who are you?" Looking up at her uncle for permission again got the redhead a nod, attention returning to the woman.

"R-Ruby Rose." Ruby murmured, seeing the woman's green eyes widen slightly behind her thin glasses.

"Qrow?" The woman asked simply.

"Yep." Her uncle responded. "So Glynda, mind opening the way for us?" The woman, 'Glynda' though she had a distinct feeling she wasn't supposed to call the adult that, nodded. Without even looking the blonde flicked what looked like a riding crop from the stable back home, golden pink-purple covering it, the rock wall glowing pink-purple before splitting and opening to reveal a platform like the one they used to get up the cliff and arrive at Beacon.

"I'll tell him you're on your way." The green-eyed woman informed, getting a nod.

"Thanks." The other adult gestured for the children to go onto the platform. "Go on Kiddo." He murmured when the youngest didn't move, gently guiding her onto the platform. The wall slams shut and small hands clung to his arm when she jumped, suddenly surrounded by darkness.

 _Trapped...I'm trapped..._ Panic shot through Ruby's body, heart hammering in her ears as her body began to tremble. _Can't get out-_ She couldn't feel her uncle's clothing or arm anymore, couldn't feel her own clothing. _Uncle Qrow! Uncle QROW!_ Desperately screaming in her mind, struggling to even breathe as tears gather and magic tries to find something to attach to. _I don't wanna be alone-_ There is suddenly light, it's bright and hurts the goggle covered eyes but it's THERE.

"Ruby?" When did Nora get beside the younger girl? The older girl looked worried, hand on her arm. "It...it's ok. Right Renny?" The boy had made the light, a ball of pink flickering fire floating above his palm...he nodded, looking at the adult.

"May I?" Ren asked softly, a sigh sounding behind her.

"Normally I'd say no...but it seems like she needs it." Qrow responded softly. "You got enough control?"

"For a minute." The pink eyed boy assured, turning his attention to his friend. "Nora."

"Got it!" The orange haired girl grinned, pulling what looked like a toy hammer from her back. A breath and the head began to spark, like pink lightning, quickly enough to light the room better than the small flame. "Minute here Renny." He nodded, taking the two steps to stand before the youngest child.

"Just look at Ren's eyes Kiddo." The hooded girl did as told, the black haired boy's eyes beginning to glow the same pink as the fire earlier. The glow slowly turned a soft gray, her breathing and senses returning to normal...it was as though she had never panicked to begin with, fear faded away.

"Ngh!" The boy gasped in pain as he snapped his head to the side, his friend dropping her hammer to dart to his side and wrapping her arms around him to help keep him up. The hammer still let off pink lightning, though not as much as before. The ground below began to move, and it took the redhead a moment to realize it was the platform.

"Is... is he gonna be ok?" She asked quietly, getting a comforting smile from the other girl.

"Renny'll be ok! His magic just doesn't like to listen to him for long, so it gives him a bit of a headache." The little apprentice looked at him, getting a nod and soft smile when he looked up at her.

"So...you use storm magic?" A change of the topic might be nice.

"Lightning Dust!" The blue-eyed girl corrected with a grin as they continued to raise. "I'm a Utilizer, not mage."

"A...Utilizer?" The happy expression was immediately replaced with narrowed eyes at her 'mentor' and an angry childish hum.

"You didn't even teach her that?"

"If it upsets you so much then you can do it." He responded.

"I will!" The hammer user agreed, looking back at the other girl. "A Utilizer is-" The platform stopped, the wall behind them glowing green before opening the same as the one downstairs. Standing there was a grayhaired man with a cane, brown eyes covered by glasses and a soft smile in emerald green and black robes. The silver eyed girl's breath caught the moment she saw him.

* * *

 **You guys have no idea how HARD I tried to keep this chapter happy...I just couldn't do it. And I'm sorry, but Ruby has PTSD at this point...on a lighter note, I love Qrow just suddenly realizing arguing with Nora is pointless XD And Ren just needing to say Nora's name to get whatever response he wants is adorable. Also, I've always had the firm belief that Ruby and Nora would have become friends even if Jaune wasn't around, which I decided to incorporate into this because we know Ruby had friends at Signal before she went to Beacon. See you all soon.**


	8. Wizard of Order

**I wish I could have put this up sooner, but my inspiration keeps hoping all over the place in RWBY right now...sorry it's a little on the short side, but I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

"Hello Sire!" Nora grinned at the man as the four stepped into his office, though her friend grabbed and handed the hammer back to her, who looked back with mild displeasure.

"I have told you Miss Valkyrie, I am no royal nor noble." The wise looking mage stated.

"You might as well be!" She disagreed, still smiling.

"They followed me." Qrow explained, the words were simple but she suspected they meant a lot more.

"I see." The grey haired man responded, giving a slight nod before softly smiling at the girl currently hiding behind her uncle. "Another lost mage?"

"Yeah." The younger man answered, the other smiling a little more at her.

"Well, we'll find you a wonderful me-"

"I'm her mentor." The red eyed man stated, hand comfortingly placed on his niece's head.

"I...thought you had no intention of taking an apprentice." The bespectacled man pointed out after a moment, looked shocked.

"Kiddo here is a...special case." Her mentor explained, looking down at her. "It's okay, you can pull that hood down." The goggled girl looked up, as though to be sure, and upon getting a nod pulled down the hood. A gasp, though soft, came from the green wearing man.

"She's..."

"A Rose." Qrow informed, as though the word meant far more than she knew.

"...Hello Miss Rose. Do you know who I am?" The oldest mage asked in a soft voice, like someone used to being around scared kids.

"You're...his mentor..." Ruby answered hesitantly, clutching her own mentor's cloak. The older mentor looked at his ex-apprentice, giving another nod after a moment before looking at her again.

"Yes, I was." He agreed. "My name is Ozpin. I am...the one who runs this Order."

"Runs?" The silver eyed girl asked.

"Oz keeps everything and everyone in this place on track, making sure bad things don't happen." Her uncle explained, causing her eyes to widen out of sight.

"Just...him?" How could one person stop stuff like magic accidents?

"Well, I have help, of course. Glynda, the woman downstairs, helps me a great deal." Ozpin corrected.

"Like...how Yang makes food? When Daddy's Busy?" The youngest child thought for a moment before speaking.

"Exactly like that." The black haired man agreed with a hint of pride in his voice. "Tai makes sure the house 'runs', that everyone is safe and there is food to eat. But she helps by making the food for you when he can't. Oz and Glynda are the same, but with a much bigger house and a lot more people." Hearing that he was so clearly proud made her smile a little.

"You didn't say your name." Ren reminded the little girl, making her look to him than the grey haired man.

"R-Ruby Rose..." Her voice became soft and shy again.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ruby Rose." The brown eyed man gave that same soft smile.

"...Nice to meet you." She murmured back.

"Alright, Oz and I have quite a bit to talk about, so you kids run along." The orange haired girl frowned at the red eyed man.

"Renny and I wanna help too." She disagreed, causing the new mentor to sigh.

"Look, just..." He paused, thinking for a moment. "See the goggles?"

"Duh!" The green eyed girl looked at him like he was dumb.

"She just got them in the last village, but they're normal civilian goggles...she needs to get them enchanted, a mutual growth one." She tilted her head in confusion.

"To keep the goggles the right size for her." The pink eyed boy revealed.

"Oh! That makes sense! Don't wanna get new ones when she grows!" The 'Utilizer' agreed.

"Right. Was hoping you and Ren could take her to get it done." The cloaked man explained.

"We can do that! Right Renny?" The hyper girl asked, the boy beside her giving a nod. "Alright! To the-oh!" She looked back at the man.

"Sire! Can I have some lighting dust?"

"What happened to the dust you had?" The bespectacled man questioned with a slight frown, getting a nervous laugh.

"I, uh...had to use it in the lift." Nora stated, his frown getting deeper. "Ruby got scared in the dark. Renny had to use his magic to calm her down." She added, causing the man to look at the cloaked girl...who basically hid behind her mentor.

"I see." He cupped his hands before him, a green glow covering them...the sound of sparks like a storm came from them, after a few moments the hands were opened to reveal a yellow powder.

"...Dust?" The redhead asked as she peaked from her hiding spot.

"In it's natural form." The green wearing man agreed, holding his hands together again and they glowed. He pushed them together, a spark coming from a small opening but when he opened them again a moment later a crystal just as yellow as the powder was in his hands. "I believe this should suffice Miss Valkyrie." Nora grinned and skipped over, taking the crystal before it seemed to disappear into the hammer's head.

"Thank you Sire!" A small lantern with a green glow flew from the side to in front of her friend, who grabbed the small handle at the top without question.

"A small flame will light that, Mister Ren, and keep more magic from being used. That should keep the dark in the lift away." The boy with a pink strand of hair nodded. "You may keep it, of course, Miss Rose. I imagine it will make life a little easier for you."

"Th-thank you...Sire..." Ruby hadn't heard any title him, but 'Mister Ozpin' didn't seem good enough when someone called him Sire.

"Please, not you too." For a moment he sounded legitimately annoyed.

"But you might as well be!" The green eyed girl repeated adamantly.

"Th-then, um..."

"Wizard." The black haired boy stated suddenly. "Wizard Ozpin." The title sounded familiar, but the little mage couldn't remember where she had heard it before...she took a deep breath, remembering the calming feeling of looking into the boy's eyes earlier.

"Thank you Wizard Ozpin." She managed to say normally.

"You are quite welcome Miss Rose." The man smiled at her again before the wall to the lift opened, the children getting in before the older mage lit the small lantern with his pink flames that turned red and orange inside it like normal fire. The wall closed, the lift itself glowed pink, and they started back down.

* * *

 **Ozpin must be pretty important to this world if Nora is calling him 'Sire'...sorta obvious why if you look for a sec, but if you didn't notice read through up to now and see if you can. Hope you all enjoyed!**


	9. Answers Anew

**This whole this is just one big info-dump that will surely be brought up more naturally later, but I figured some of you might actually want it all in one place for easy reading. To be honest, you can basically skip this chapter of you want.**

 **There's a link to a chart about Ranks and Titles on the AO3 version, if anyone cares.**

* * *

It took several more minutes to get the lift fully down than it did up; considering the only mage capable of any control of magic had to stop every thirty seconds or so, the magic to move the lift apparently took more focus and magic. In the end 'Glynda' helped them, pulling the lift down with her own purple magic with a sudden jolt after it had stopped for the sixth or so time.

"Thanks Impetus Goodwitch!" Nora exclaimed happily when the lift stopped and wall opened, her seemingly exhausted friend held up only by the arm slung over her shoulder.

"I believe your mentor has made it clear that you aren't to use the lift on your own, Mister Ren." The woman glared, though looked a little concerned.

"So-"

"Qrow sent us out of the office without anyone else to move the lift!" The orange haired girl quickly explained, giving her own glare...after a moment the bespectacled woman sighed.

"Yes, I suppose he would do such a thing without thought, wouldn't he?" She looked fed up.

"Yep." The blue eyed girl agreed.

"Where do you intend to go now? Are you able to support him until you get there?" The tone was far more concerned now, though it still seemed oddly distant.

"Takin' Ruby to the Enchanters. For her goggles." The 8 year old girl explained. "I can help Renny there, no problem." She added with a wide grin.

"I see. Well, you know where the Healer Wing is, should you need to get help." A simple nod. "Good day to you then, Miss Valkyrie, Mister Ren...Miss Rose." The last name sounded odd, almost forced.

"Have a good day!" The hyper girl agreed.

"Good day Impetus Goodwitch." Ren murmured, leaning heavily onto his friend even as he spoke.

"H-have nice d-day, um..." Ruby trailed off, was she supposed to call her what the others did? Was Impetus some kind of title? If so what did it even mean?

"Impetus Goodwitch is fine." Goodwitch stated, causing a squeak from the cloaked girl at the sudden voice.

"R-right...then, um...have n-nice day I-Imp...id...s... Goodwitch." She had to sound it out for the word to come out right, likely a jumble if she had simply tried to say it with her current nervousness and not knowing the word. The woman blinked in confusion but didn't ask, the three children leaving the room...the pink eyed boy at least knew where they were going, since the one half-carrying him sure didn't seem to, and pointed them in the right direction.

~On the Way~

"So...what's Imp...id...s?" Ruby asked as the trio walked through the halls of the second floor, which no people really seemed to be at.

"Qrow taught you nothing!" Nora huffed, puffing out her cheeks. "It's, uh...Renny?" She gave a sheepish smile as she trailed off, revealing she either didn't know herself or wasn't sure how to explain it.

"Impetus is one of the titles, and ranks, used to identify mages. Lower ranked mages should call those of higher rank by their title. The title and rank are given based on your proficiency." Ren explained, though most of it sorta went over the youngest's head.

"What's p-" She began, only to be cut off by the 'Utilizer'.

"I know this one!" The older said proudly. "A proficiency is the form your magic naturally takes, like what it does if you're scared or something! Renny here is a Charmer, that means he can effect emotions! It's a type of Warlock, the sixth rank, who all use mind magic!" She seemed to spout out everything she knew about the topic, though at least it made more sense than the one before.

"Impetus is a Conjurer who uses force magic." The boy with a pink streak of hair continued.

"Like with the lift!" His friend added.

"Conjurers are eighth rank." He finished.

"How many ranks?" The new mage questioned.

"Nine. That makes Impetus Goodwitch almost the highest rank! Only one higher is Shifter, and they change into animal-" The older girl was cut off.

"Uncle Qrow!" The goggled girl cried out suddenly, the other girl looked confused for a moment before a look at the boy she was still helping caused the look to vanish.

"Yep! Qrow's a Shifter, the highest rank!"

"Normal rank." The pink eyed boy corrected. "There are two special ranks, ones given by power instead of proficiency. Archmage and Wizard."

"The Wizard, Sire, is the most powerful mage in the whole world! There's only ever one at a time and...a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. Archmages are just below him; any apprentice he takes will always be an Archmage, but you don't have to be trained by him to be one. Vale used to have two Archmages, Archmage-Shifter and Archmage-Thorn, but now we only have one so everyone here calls him just Archmage." The hammer-user definitely talked a lot...at least that explained why 'Wizard' sounded so important, and why she called him 'Sire'.

"Thorn and...Shifter?" There was a moment of heavy silence.

"You're really lucky, you know? Archmage-Thorn and Archmage-Shifter...one is your mentor and the other I bet you knew really well...Summer Rose and Qrow Branwen..." The pink wearer's voice strained and cracked, yet it was the names that made the plant mage freeze.

"Uncle Qrow and...Mommy?" Hearing her uncle was so powerful was surprising since she barely saw him use magic except his Shift, but it was her mother's name that shocked her; she hadn't even known her mother was a mage until a little under a week ago, but she was one of the most powerful?! They had stopped now, the older children shaking in a way that made her worried...after a few moments she saw something wet hit the floor in front of them, and realized they were crying.

"S-Summer...she didn't like...us using her title..." Nora's voice broke several times, body jolting as sobs hit and almost sent the two tumbling to the floor each time. "...Said that...cause she found us...we should use her-her name..." The hooded girl took a panicked step forward when the older suddenly fell against the wall, legs not willing to hold her anymore. "She'd talk about y-you...whenever we saw her...and w-wanted us to meet you...even promised to be Renny's mentor one day..." The sobs were harder now, making loud noise, and all the daughter of the one she spoke of could do was stare and start crying herself.

"N-Nora-" The girl with red tipped hair began, only to be cut off.

"But two years ago...she stopped coming back. And at first...I thought it was because of you, that you'd taken her from us!...But then Qrow came back...and we knew what happened just looking at him..." The orange haired girl took a deep, shaky breath. "...And I HATED you. I hated you because you knew her longer, because she always left us for you even though Renny had magic and I told myself he needed her more!" She collapsed in horrible sobs, her friend falling to the floor silently beside her. "...But hating you didn't bring her back. Nothing did. And I knew...knew she wouldn't want me to. So after a while I tried to ask Qrow if you were okay, because if we were that bad you had to be so much worse...he wouldn't talk to me, not about her or you. Renny and I used to hang around them both when they were here, but he didn't want me around anymore...and that hurt too, suddenly we were all alone again...he didn't like Renny just cause I was always nearby..." It had become a ramble at this point, spoken so fast it was amazing the one she spoke to managed to understand every word. "And I-" Suddenly a small arm was around her, the other around the boy beside her, pulling them closer together and to the owner.

"I'm sorry!" Ruby cried, tears spilling under the goggles. "I didn't...mean to..." Her voice cut off in it's own terrible sob. "...So sad now!"

"It's... it's not your fault..." Ren tried to assure her, his own crying silent...he didn't seem to have been hit as hard as his friend by who would have been his future mentor dying, so that was at least good. The little girl looked at him, her hidden eyes widening when she saw a pink glow around his; only for him to squeeze them shut and look almost pained a moment later. It took several moments for her to realize what he was trying to do.

"No, no magic!" She cried in an almost panic, feeling her own immediately shoot out to cling onto some plant. One of his hands pulled into a tight fist but he didn't argue as the pink glow stopped and didn't return, and soon the magic faded back into her soul.

~FM~

No one knew how long the three children had cried in the hallway, since nobody seemed to hear them or come check...but by the time the overwhelming emotions had calmed they all felt exhausted, though at the boy was able to walk on his own now.

"This is the Enchanters' area." Nora stated once they had finally made it near the front of the school, a wide hallway was filled with what looked like vendor stalls but with doors to rooms open behind each one; each stall had a few people sitting between the 'counter' and door, some had things they seemed to be working on and others didn't. "We need a..." She trailed off, turning her head to look at the goggles on the youngest's face. "...Goggles would be Mask, right? Or would they be Tailor with the straps?" The question was directed to the mage boy.

"There are Mask Enchanters who specialize in goggles." Ren answered simply, his eyes moving along the stalls so he must have been looking for the ones he mentioned.

"You need a goggle Enchanter? What for Charmer?" The man at the closest stall asked, looking up from his work...it was a hammer not unlike the 'Utilizer'.

"We have a new member!" The blue eyed girl explained, gesturing to the goggled girl.

"H-hello..." Ruby stuttered, fidgeting nervously with her cloak; she suddenly missed her Uncle.

"Ah, Archmage returned today." The man gave a kind smile. "It's 8 stalls down from here." He added, getting a shy smile back.

"Th-thank y-"

"Come on Ruby!" The orange haired girl grabbed the younger's arm, pulling her toward their destination before she could even finish thanking the man...he just laughed at least, and didn't seem mad.

~At the Needed Stall~

"We need a pair of goggles enchanted!" Nora exclaimed the moment the trio reached where they needed, tapping the ones on the little girl's face without warning...she jumped slightly in surprise.

"Mutual growth, obviously. Anything else?" The woman behind the counter asked, holding her hand out.

"Fortify against magic and visual detection of Grimm." Ren immediately answered.

"The VDG enchantment? In Beacon?" The enchanteress questioned, looking very confused.

"Her mentor travels a bunch." The pink wearing girl explained quickly.

"...Well? Give them here!" The woman hissed after several moments of holding out her hand, glaring at the goggled girl as she squeaked.

"Have anything else she can wear for now?" The older girl asked, seeing the younger pull back and clutch fearfully at the straps of her goggles.

"Don't want to show your eyes?" The girl with red tipped hair quickly shook her head. "You can use these then." The substitute goggles looked like they'd barely cover her eyes, yellow with red lenses looking up at her...but she was supposed to get the ones she had enchanted, so it left her with no choice. Tiny hands grabbed the offered goggles carefully, closing her eyes before slipping off her own while making sure to keep her hood up. A much bigger hand took hers before she pulled the temporary ones over her head and adjusted them around the eyes...when she opened them again at least everything was still red, so she didn't have to get used to a new colour.

"How long?" The boy with a pink streak of hair asked as the woman turned the goggles over carefully in her hands.

"A few hours...fortification and mutual growth will only take a few minutes, but VDG will take a lot longer." Was the answer.

"We have time." The blue eyed girl stated, giving a smile. "I know someone even better than us for asking any questions you want, come on!" Again the new apprentice's wrist was grabbed, and again she was dragged away.

~Outside Beacon, Five or so Minute Walk~

"A...fence?" Ruby could do little more than stare in confusion at the tall metal and wood fence, as tall as Beacon itself without the tower, people in robes on either side of a closed door. On the other side was two more buildings, one as tall as the fence and another only two stories.

"That's Signal, where Utilizers like me train and live." Nora stated. "More importantly, one of my teachers should be coming through shortly!" It made sense to ask a teacher questions, at the very least.

"Excuse me gentlemen, I need through." The younger blinked when a tall man with spiky green hair and thick glasses seemed to just appear on the other side of the door, tapping his foot impatiently before he was even done speaking...he had spoken so quickly it nearly jumbled into itself.

"Of course Mist-" One of the guards began, the man frowning in annoyance.

"Theurgist." He interupted, the guard giving a nod.

"Of course. Theurgist Oobleck." Said guard agreed, the door swinging open.

"Thank you." The bespectacled man said simply.

"Teach!" The blue eyed girl called, the man looking at the now waving girl. In the blink of an eye he was in front of the trio, the youngest taking a startled step back, looking down at the older girl in irritation.

"Theurgist." He repeated, his mouth pulled into a frown...she just grinned and he seemed to realize arguing was pointless after a moment. "Nonetheless, are you finally intending to take your studies seriously Miss Valkyrie?"

"Nope." The orange haired girl responded with that same grin. "Brought someone with a bunch of questions though!" She added, pulling the goggle wearer's wrist until he could see her. "Ruby's has lots of stuff to ask!"

"Miss...Ruby?" The hooded girl could only nod, her shy nature and nerves finally taking over after being around so many people all day.

"Archmage brought her. Never told anything." Ren explained, getting a nod.

"It would appear you're feeling rather overwhelmed." The teacher said, getting no response.

"...I don't think she understands words like that." The pink wearing girl finally told him.

"Ah, yes...today has made you feel tired and uncomfortable, right?" He slowed his speech a bit and the new child nodded. "Then we should find a quiet place to sit before I begin answering your questions, it will likely do you good." He gave a slight smile, leading the three away from both the fence and school.

~On an Empty Bench Near the Lake~

"Better?" Oobleck asked once the group of children had sat on the bench, no one around this spot.

"Y-yeah." Ruby admitted softly, feeling it a little easier to breath now.

"Splendid, just splendid." He smiled at her from his place a few steps away. "Now, about those questions you wanted to ask?"

"We should start from the...start!" Nora pointed out. "She doesn't even know what a Utilizer is." The shock was obvious on the adult's face, since the glasses slid down slightly to show wide brown eyes before he pushed them back up.

"Yes, well..." The 'Theurgist' began, pausing.

"He's used to people who understand the words he uses." The hammer user whispered to the younger girl, explaining the sudden pause.

"...Do you know what a mage is?" The teacher finally questioned, keeping his voice slower than when he was talking to the guards earlier.

"A person who uses magic." The goggled girl responded immediately.

"That's a rather...basic explanation, though certainly not wrong." She blinked behind her goggles and he coughed lightly when he realized she didn't understand. "Do you know about Aura?" Her head shook. "Then I'll start there."

"Ok." He nodded at the agreement.

"Faunus and Humans all have Aura, which is the manifestation..." He trailed off at the frown from the little girl. "That is...Aura is the 'energy' let out by your soul, and through control of Aura...a mage can cast magic." The bespectacled man waved his hands as he spoke, like he was trying to help the newest apprentice visualize...but it was more like his hands suddenly jumping to another place and position than actual movement to her, making the earlier discomfort slam back into her.

"Teach."

"Theurgist." She could tell, even with the reflective glasses, that he was glaring at the hyper girl.

"You're scaring her." The older pointed to her, causing the cloaked girl to pull back slightly at the sudden complete attention.

"Miss Ruby?" He sounded a little worried, and she felt bad.

"Your magic. She's not used to it." The pink eyed boy pointed out.

"Ah, yes...of course..." The adult agreed after a moment, his movement stopping. "My apologies."

"I-...s-..." What was she even supposed to say? He hadn't meant to scare her, and apologizing sounded wrong.

"Anyway." He seemed to have figured out why she was stumbling over her attempts at words. "As I explained, mages use their Aura to use magic. Utilizers, however, use their Aura to activate Dust. A Utilizer can't use magic on their own, their Aura isn't able to."

"So...a mage using their own magic, and a Utilizer using magic given to them?" The girl with red tipped hair questioned.

"Precisely!" He grinned with the same pride her uncle had when she understood what the Wizard did here. "Because Utilizer can't use their own magic to fight they tend to...be better with their weapons, which all hold their Dust. There are, of course, a few exceptions; such as Archmage-Shifter...still, most mages feel more comfortable travelling with a utilizer or two-"

"For if they run low on Aura and can't use magic!" Nora butt in, the cloaked girl sure she saw the green haired man twitch slightly.

"...Indeed." He agreed after a moment. "Was there anything else you wanted to know, Miss Ruby?"

"The...Wizard?" Ruby requested softly, silence following as he looked thoughtful.

"Ah, what makes the Wizard so special, right?" Oobleck clarified, getting a nod. He told the tale of the 'original wizard' and the four maidens to the trio. "What the old man hadn't known was that any child a Maiden had would be able to use magic, even after the magic was passed on. The magic spread as more children were born able to use it, until the very way of the world changed...even the Grimm became beings of magic, suddenly only mages and utilizers were able to hurt them. With the change came a new name, Remnant became Fragment."

"And the old man?"

"Was cursed by the gods for giving his magic away. He would live forever; his soul, magic and memories fusing with a new host each time he died." The teacher finished.

"The Wizard now...has that same soul, right?" The silver eyed girl asked.

"Correct once more!" He grinned again. "However...I have spent a great deal of time explaining all this. The wizard or your mentor will likely be wondering where you are."

"We've been out here for hours." The older girl elaborated.

"Uncle!" The younger exclaimed, suddenly worried he might have been looking for her.

"We should wait outside his room." Ren suggested.

"We can pick up your goggles on the way there." His friend added. The smallest child nodded, turning to the man.

"Th-thank you! Third...just... Oop...black!" Even though she knew she hadn't said it right he merely smiled, maybe because she at least tried to use his title.

"You're quite welcome Miss Ruby." He assured her, the children quickly taking off back to the Beacon Building.

* * *

 **Backstory on Nora/Ren with Summer/Qrow, ranks/titles in the order, magic itself (to an extent), Utilizers and Signal...along with Oobleck showing up. Yay for him! (I swear I'll bring him in again later)**


	10. Traumas of the Past

**More Qrow &Summer flashback and backstory, yay! Some Summer only backstory too, yay! And some explanation of self-magic trauma and some common symptoms...yay? Hope you enjoy.**

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The archmage leaned against the wall near his old mentor's desk, taking the opportunity to get a long drink from his flask...he was not anywhere near drunk enough for the conversation he was anticipating. Rather than trying to stop him the Wizard allowed his old student to chug down the cheap alcohol, silence otherwise filling the office.

"...Haven't drank in a while?" Ozpin asked after several moments of the younger man shaking the flask over his outstretched tongue in hopes there were still a few more drops.

"We're starting with THAT?" Qrow raised an eyebrow in curiosity and disbelief, returning the empty flask to his belt.

"I thought it may be the easiest to start with." The older man explained, getting a sigh and nod.

"Yeah, that...that makes sense." Another sigh. "I...haven't drank as much since I picked up Kiddo."

"She doesn't like it?" The brown eyed man asked, getting a scoff.

"She can't tell, as far as I know." The red eyed one disagreed. "Nope, it's...it feels wrong, she needs me right now. Can't emotionally help much when I'm drunk." He explained after a few seconds, running a hand through his hair.

"...Not that I'm particularly pleased with your bad habits, of course, but..." The grey haired man paused for a moment. "...Are you certain you don't want to have her become my apprentice?"

"Both of us know Kiddo's too young to tell how strong her magic will be yet." The black haired one reminded. "Besides, I...I promised her..."

 _"Qrow? I...I need you to promise me something really important. If...if something happens to me...and Ruby ends up getting magic...you have to be her mentor in my place. Please, promise me."_

"Ah...yes..." The green wearer's voice wasn't as calm as it was around the kids, seeing the new little mage had shaken him more than he'd ever show them. "Qrow, I-"

"Please Oz, don't start again. I know your feel guilty but...I'm not drunk enough to handle that right now." A hollow laugh filled the room. "And...both of us know she wasn't fighting because you told her to at the end anyway. You, me; the good or evil of the world, none of it matter to her then...just the kids who were waiting for her to come back."

"...The children she never returned to." He agreed sadly, slowly pulling his glasses from his face to wipe at his eyes.

"Yeah..." Silence engulfed the room as both men tried to get their emotions back under their own control, even if one had far less of a problem with that than the other.

"Miss Rose's registration papers." The cane user pointed out suddenly, moving over to his desk. "Glynda warned me that you were bringing a new mage, so I prepared the paperwork already...she failed to mention just who you were bringing though." The paperwork was lined neatly along the edge of the desk with a quill and ink pot beside it, the grey SoundStone sitting in the small stand made for it...the rainbow glow when it was in use was absent, since the matching one on the Impetus' desk downstairs was also not being used.

"Right, right." The dual weapon user pulled from the wall, feeling his legs shake slightly in retaliation as his sadness still swam mostly uncontrolled in his body. He began filling out what he could remember; mostly the basics like name, birthday, age, birth kingdom and proficiency.

"...How did Tai and his daughter handle it?" Oz asked as he sat in his chair, a little heavier than normal.

"Little Dragon threw little fit, Tai snapped at her...after that they both took it relatively well." Qrow answered without thought, focusing on what he was doing. "...Tai was just starting to get himself together after what happened, and now he's basically lost Kiddo too...Little Dragon's been trying to act like a mom this whole time, she probably has no idea what to do now..." He admitted after several minutes.

"Hopefully they'll spend some time together, keep one another in a better state." The wizard said.

"I sure hope so...that kid definitely doesn't need to see Tai break all over again." The archmage's free hand reaches for the flask, pulling back the moment the fingertips touched and he remembered it was empty.

"I could send Peter to check on them."

"Peter?" He questioned, looking up in confusion. "...Oh, that self-centered utilizer with the mustache?" The chuckle it got was far more good natured.

"He acts the part far more than he is." The older corrected, still chuckling a bit. "He was Tai's favourite teacher when he was at Signal, along with his mentor. It may help to see him again."

"Doesn't he have kids to teach?" The younger asked.

"Yes, but he's refused to take any time away from teaching or 'missions' since he became a staff member of Signal. It's a good excuse to give him the closest thing to 'time off' he'll take." The brown eyed man explained, waiting for an answer.

"...Well...in that case, sure." The red eyed one agreed, getting a nod. Thin fingers of a man who rarely used his weapon pressed against the SoundStone on his desk, the rainbow glow where he touched.

"Glynda?" The glow pulsed across the stone in time with the voice from the fingertips.

"Yes, Wizard?" The familiar female voice answered, the glow pulsing to the spot being touched instead.

"Can you have someone inform Peter that Tai could use some support for a while?" Was the request.

"...Of course. Any time he's expected to return by?"

"No, however long is needed. Weekly or so letters of Tai and his daughter's condition would be appreciated though."

"I'll have someone tell him now. If you'll excuse me, I need to figure out temporary measures to handle his duties." The glow stopped entirely, showing the other SoundStone had been covered momentary to end the communication...likely with a part of her robe, like always.

"Now that we've settled that, and you seem to be done what you can for now, I'd like to be caught up on what happened since you left Patch with your new apprentice." The shifter sighed at his ex-mentor's words, but nodded and began to speak anyway.

~After Recounting the Trip~

"Miss Rose lost control of her magic so soon after awakening it?" Ozpin asked, the surprise and concern in his voice not hidden at all.

"Yeah. She hasn't tried to use her magic since...and every time it gets dark around her she starts freaking out." Qrow clarified, watching the other's mouth pull into a frown.

"The incident Miss Valkyrie mentioned didn't happen before she lost control of her magic?" He shook his head.

"Not a chance. Tai doesn't have magic to keep light in the house at night, even when Short-stack was there only normal candles were used." The old man's frown deepened.

"That's...rather troubling." A thoughtful pause filled the room. "Forcing magic lessons on her now likely won't do anything but make her more afraid...choosing a weapon and practicing with that for a while is usually the best course of action; it gives the mage a sense of control their magic doesn't seem to have." He suggested, having picked up the paperwork and begun to look over it.

"Probably a good idea..." The younger man agreed. "I knew you'd be able to help Oz. Thanks."

"I wouldn't thank me until Miss Rose starts using magic again." He huffed good-naturedly. "...Perhaps you should bring her to the library as well. Many mages who go through self-magic related trauma have a far easier time becoming comfortable and actually learning magic from books rather than direct training."

"...Mages traumatized by their own magic do?" The red eyed man repeated lowly, causing the one talking to him to look up.

"Yes..." The brown eyed man's response was cautious, he seemed uncertain as to what problem that statement caused. Anger usually helped repressed by alcohol immediately flooded the archmage's system, a prickling crawling up his skin as his magic responded and the tips of feathers sprouted.

"Short-stack couldn't learn anything you taught her unless she read it." The room suddenly felt stifling.

"...I believe you and I are both well aware of the trauma Summer caused herself." The wizard responded after several moments, voice carefully calm.

 _~Flashback~_

 _"You know, you still haven't told me your proficiency." Summer pointed out suddenly as she entered his room from the door connecting hers._

 _"Why does it matter?" Qrow questioned from his bed, open book being used to cover his closed eyes._

 _"We've known each other for three months already! And how am I supposed to use your title if I don't know it?" She explained in mild annoyance._

 _"Oz said it doesn't matter, we'll both be archmages anyway." He answered, not even opening his eyes. "Besides, it's pretty hypocritical to ask my proficiency when you haven't told me yours. I've never even seen you without that hood of yours up." He heard her walk over to the open window and shuffleshuffle uncomf...probably looking down on Tai and Raven, they'd been talking within view a few minutes ago at least._

 _"I...don't really want to talk about it..." The hooded girl responded hesitantly, only to get a scoff._

 _"And you think I do?" The black haired boy moved the book slightly, so he could glare at her with one eye. "Pretty selfish if you ask me." He saw her flinch with a sharp gasp._

 _"I...w-what about your full name? Y-you already know mine..." The visible eye narrowed more, trying to ignore the prickling of his skin along his arms and back._

 _"That's none of your business. We can't all be born to some magic family, some of us want to forget where we're from when we come here." His voice came out like a harsh caw, but she didn't seem to notice...instead she had pulled away from the window and him as if struck. "Oh, sorry, were you expecting the other apprentice to be some Elite with a family who knows this crap like you?" The sarcasm was thick._

 _"I-I-"_

 _"Well, I'm not. Too bad, so sad. Go crying home to Mommy if it upsets you too much." The red eyed boy noticed her beginning to tremble but that just made him more angry, all this kindness she'd shown was only because she thought he was from a mage family like her. "Not like you need to be here anyway, your family-"_

 _"Shut up!" White magic formed into outlines of thorny vines in only a moment, the silver eyed girl's hands glowing with the same power as the sudden Gleaming weapons thrust towards him._

 _"What the hell?!" He demanded, jumping out of bed just in time to keep from being stabbed while it was torn apart._

 _"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" She screamed at him, tears flowing down her face as the magic vines continued to attack him._

 _"What the hell are you doing Idiot?!" The shifter dodged, seeing the glow from her palms climbing up her arm. She was losing control, and fast. Jumping up to dodge another stab he allowed his body to change forms, flying towards her at top speed...she wasn't used to fighting such a small and quick opponent, since the vines weren't able to catch him or even come close. As soon as he was behind the other mage his body shifted back to human, allowing his left hand to remain a talon just in case. "Are you trying to kill me?" The vines abruptly stopped, seemingly frozen for a moment before disappearing along with the glow on her arms. "About-" He was cut off by laughter._

 _"Again..." Summer laughed as she spoke but it sounded horribly broken, body shaking even worse than before. "I did it again..."_

 _"Hey, I-" Qrow had no idea what he was supposed to say, he wasn't used to seeing such vulnerability from anyone, her laughter broken only by what had now become nonsensical gibberish._

 _"Killed like Mom..." His body jerked back, eyes wide at the words. "What if I had...?" Her body crumpled to the floor with broken sobs. "He said I could control it! He said he'd teach me!" She cried out, folding more into herself. Her magic wasn't reacting, but that didn't make the situation any better._

 _"SUMMER!" Tai's voice yelled as the door to the room broke down, an outstretched fist showing it had been the male utilizer...he and the other utilizer must have heard her screaming earlier because the window was open. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" The blond demanded in a voice far more threatening than the other boy had thought possible._

 _"I-I didn't-" The black haired boy tried to explain, freezing when familiar crimson eyes bore into him from the doorway._

 _"What happened Qrow?" Raven's voice was like ice, hand on the hilt of her blade. She would never admit it aloud, but her brother knew she'd gotten attached to the usually cheerful girl._

 _~End of Flashback~_

"Yeah...Raven beat me up pretty good when we found out..." Qrow agreed softly, looking at the familiar green and black robes. "...Tai gave a few good blows too...ended up having to get you just to calm her down."

"I remember." Ozpin admitted, sighing and taking a sip from the coffee cup that seemed to have been forgotten when his ex-apprentice entered. "She could never use magic without reading about it and fully understanding it after that...I believe her daughter will be much the same."

"Probably..." The red eyed man honestly wanted to say how his little niece was far too young to go through such heavy trauma, especially after already losing her mother, but he knew it would only make his ex-mentor feel even more guilty and start trying to apologize again.

"Miss Rose is likely to study and try casting magic that doesn't relate to her proficiency; if she can control magic not natural to her than it will be easier to control that which is... that's the thought behind it, at least. It's quite normal for those in her situation." The brown eyed man explained, getting a nod. "...And Qrow?" The younger looked up. "Miss Rose is in the best possible place she could be right now. Being surrounded both by those who are still learning and those who have mastered their magic will help quell her fears. I promise." He got a small, grateful smile.

"Thanks Oz...I knew bringing her here was a good idea."

* * *

 **Overprotective Tai is best Tai, we even got mention of Port and his relationship with Tai! Btw, Qrow? Ruby notices the drinking, she doesn't like it. And Oz has seen this way more often than he'd like. And Summer...I am so sorry Summer. See you all soon.**


	11. Cresent Night

**This chapter ended up more fluffy than I expected, which is a pleasant surprise since I usually say it was sadder or darker than expected...don't get me wrong, there's still some sad, but so adorable fluff! And I FREAKING love the final part of this chapter, you guys have no idea.**

* * *

If the archmage was honest he had been expecting what his ex-mentor had told him was all that he could do for the newest mage, but the irrational part of his mind that was willing to throw away everything he'd known about magic had hoped there was some way to instantly rid the child of her trauma (if that had been the case he would have fixed Short-stack too). Instead, he was walking towards his room with a horrible feeling of helplessness, even with all the ways he had learned to help it still didn't amount to much; she could be so bad that she never got over her trauma...she may never be able to go home.

 _Would you have been able to help her, Short-stack?_ At least his once best friend would have understood what was going through his new apprentice's mind, while all he could do was grasp at helpless feelings for any sort of empathization. He had never been more upset that his magic never seemed able to go out of control.

"Uncle Qrow!" He looked up upon hearing his name, body freezing with wide eyes. His niece was sitting against the wall outside his bedroom door (the door leading to Short-stack's old room was barricaded thanks to wood, metal and rock keeping anyone from entering) with the two he had guide her, grinning proudly. The problem was in her hands; a battle scythe with a snath (pole) like black intertwined vines, the design of a rose had roughly been chiseled and painted red into the large cylinder that acted as an attachment ring to keep the blade and snath attached...her hands frequently moved slightly, as though trying to figure out where to best hold the weapon, despite it being mostly leaned against the wall.

"W...what?" Qrow questioned, unable to do more than stare.

"She wanted a weapon." Ren stated as though it wasn't obvious.

"We tried to tell her an apprentice is supposed to choose their weapon with their mentor, but she didn't wanna listen. I told her you use scythes and big swords...the moment she saw this one she totally zoned out! Couldn't hear or see anything but that scythe!" Nora explained, sounding a bit panicked...probably worried he would get mad, since he had made it clear he didn't particularly want her around anymore. "I knew it happened to mages too but-"

"Wasn't expecting that." The words left the red eyed man's mouth without thought.

"Cresent Rose! She's mine now!" That explained the rose; it must have been a plain cylinder until the owner requested a design. The last thing he had expected after the accident on the way here was seeing Ruby smile like that again, like nothing was wrong in the word...she hadn't smiled like that since the last time she was with her mom.

"You come up with that name Kiddo?" His mind still hadn't really processed what was going on, leaving him to impulsively speak. The wide grin fell into a slight frown.

"She told me." The goggled girl disagreed, all eyes snapping to her.

"...A cognizant weapon?" The pink eyed boy breathed in amazement.

"All weapons we use are cognizant, that's why they can help channel magic and dust." The blue eyed girl reminded. "That's how they call for their 'destined master'...utilizers are usually the only ones able to hear their name though, like me and Magnhild..." Was it because the plant mage had utilizer blood from her father or had the same thing happened to her mother so long before she got here?

"...And she's your weapon now?" The black haired man asked.

"Yep." The silver eyed girl agreed with a nod.

"...Then I'll start teaching you how to use her tomorrow." The pure grin returned again, despite his uncertainty of giving someone so young a weapon so dangerous he couldn't bring himself to disagree with her looking like that. "First though, shrink it and find somewhere to attach it. Then we're going to get some food."

"Ok!" She agreed excitedly, weapon shrinking in her hands as though by thought alone...it was definitely her destined weapon, whenever he used Presage a burst of magic was forced to change it's size while will alone changed Harbinger. The cloaked girl clipped the scythe charm to the chain holding said cloak together at her neck, it matched perfectly. The girl with red tipped hair ran to her mentor's side, smiling up at him...the shifter heard a stomach growl as they began to walk away.

"Come on then." He sighed, hearing an excited squeal.

"Let's go Renny!" The utilizer cheered, following the pair of mages with her friend at her side.

~In the Cafeteria~

The man knew everyone in the cafeteria was staring at the quartet; he never spent time with any of the kids he brought back once the wizard met them so it was natural that they'd be extremely confused, while he had made sure to keep the utilizer and mage duo as far from him as possible for quite a while. He preferred to spend him time alone here since his fellow archmage had disappeared, but that wasn't really an option anymore.

"..." The new mage scarfed down the tray of food her mentor had placed in front of her as though she hadn't eaten in days, causing him to immediately become concerned that he hadn't been feeding her enough with simple fruits and jerky...it took him a bit to realize the actual reason for her ravenous appetite was actually the opposite; she was so accustom to eating the food her older half-sister made that her body immediately devoured the food in front of her (a six-eight year old could only make so much, after all). Meat soup, bread, and freshly cooked potatoes must have tasted like heaven to a girl who hadn't had a proper meal in two years.

"You uh...like it Kiddo?" Qrow found himself asking from across the small table, the two other children beside her. Frantic nodding quickly turned to choking since she still had food in her mouth, the orange haired girl gently nudging the glass of water closer while he was too panicked to do anything. Tiny hands grabbed it tightly, chugging the water until a cough sounded from the goggled girl's mouth before slamming the glass back down.

"It's yummy!" Ruby grinned in a different way from before, despite having been choking not moments before, returning to shoveling food in her mouth like nothing happened.

"The people who cook are really nice!" Nora stated, drawing the younger girl's attention. "You're allowed to eat as much as you want! Even if there's no food out for meals and stuff all you gotta do is ask and they'll make you some!" She looked downright amazed by this statement.

"Magic uses up a lot of energy." The shifter explained simply. "A lot more than civilians have, so we eat a lot more...utilizers do too."

"Ok." The girl with red tipped hair said simply, barely pausing to speak.

"Renny and I should get back to Signal before it gets much later. Don't wanna be lectured again." The hammer user said suddenly, standing.

"Tomorrow?" Ren questioned as he too stood, looking at the adult.

"If that's what Kiddo wants, you can hang out again tomorrow."

"Yes!" The cloaked girl practically squealed, choking on her food briefly again before dislodging it with more water. "I-it that's o-ok..." She added shyly, getting smiles from both of the other children.

"Of course! It'll be nice having someone to talk to." The pink wearer stated, her friend nodding. "See you tomorrow then!" With that the two grabbed their trays and left, dropping them in the pile near the door before exiting the room.

"...Thanks Uncle Qrow." He didn't know why she sounded so grateful despite how soft her voice was, but he just accepted it.

~That Night~

"Ngh!" Qrow was accustomed to waking in the middle of the night from nightmares by now when he jolted into wakefulness with a pained grunt; whether they were true nightmares or nightmares because they showed times and a person long gone...the alcohol in his ex-mentor's office hadn't helped them at all, though he hadn't expected it to. He groaned again, hating that he couldn't get a proper night sleep if he even vaguely resembled sober. The flickering flame of the enchanted lamp hanging by the window cast constantly changing patterns of light and shadow around the room and that at least worked as a momentary distraction from his thoughts.

"Nnnnnn..." Crimson eyes snapped to the voice, finding his niece in the small bed against the opposite wall that had been brought into the room for her. Her breath came out in desperate puffs, body flush and sweating as fearful sounds left her throat. The vines he now saw trying to break through his window showed just how afraid her nightmare was making her.

"Kiddo..." The black haired man could see Gleaming white vines surrounding his room and thrashing, the bed and girl in it far bigger...they really were far too similar sometimes. Shaking his head revealed reality, the goggles still even on the little girl's face since she had refused to take them off. Without thought he sat up, shifting forms and flew to the other bed. "Caw..." The sound was soft as he nudged his beak against her cheek.

"Nnn...lll..." The frantic breathing calmed down, which he was grateful for. With skill born from familiarity the bird lifted a small portion of the blanket and inched his way under, carefully turning around once only the end of his tail was out and pressing the side of his body against the little girl. She rolled towards him just as he had expected, an arm casually covering his back as he laid down, his head poking out of the blanket and resting against her neck. Small human legs curled up as though to keep the creature from leaving the bed while her head bent a little closer.

 _Sweet dreams Kiddo._

* * *

 **I have had the idea of Qrow snuggling people in their sleep in bird form to keep away nightmares since the BEGINNING, and I FINALLY was able to write it out! Qrow may not be best guardian, but he damn well tries.**


	12. Time Gone By Pt 1

**All of the little snipbits here weren't enough for their own chapter (except maybe June 6th), so I put them all together. This is just part one, with at least two parts, which together will span a year's time. Hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

May 4th

The archmage watched as his niece spun the wooden replica of 'Cresent Rose' around her left hand, after he had explained that scythes need constant momentum to have the most power (and explained what 'constant momentum' was) she had taken to it surprisingly well. Sure, she was losing her grip a lot (trying to not let go while spinning instead of letting it go across the back of her hand) and cutting into the ground accidentally which caused the weapon to stop suddenly, but it was far better than his first try.

"AH!" Ruby shrieked as the scythe went flying towards him like some deadly bladed baton, the man shifting to his animal form and hopping to the side in order to dodge the accidentally attack. "Uncle Qrow!" She ran to his side as he went back to human.

"I'm fine Kiddo." Qrow laughed when he realized she had been panicking, walking over to pick up the training weapon. "Turning into a crow makes it pretty easy to keep from being hit." He added, glad when she seemed to calm down.

"Please?" The little girl held out her left hand for the fake scythe, he had been planning to tell her that she didn't need to practice anymore today but she honestly seemed to enjoy it.

"Here you go."

May 25th

It took the shifter three weeks to find out his apprentice was spending the two hours between when she awoke and when he did (when she didn't have nightmares and he had to stay awake all night in avian form) with his old mentor, and even that was only because she wasn't sitting and reading a book on her bed like the mornings before. His frantic searching had led him to Ren practicing with his own mentor, who merely pointed to the tower when asked about the little girl.

"Zauberer." Qrow heard as the wall opened to the office, seeing the hooded girl sitting on the desk in front of the far older man.

"Z-ow-bear-er..." Ruby sounded out, speaking faster than something she was entirely unsure of.

"Onkel Krähe." Ozpin said, not noticing the other man.

"Onkel Krähe." The girl with red tipped hair repeated without missing a beat, her voice sounding very happy.

"Sehr guter, very good Ruby." The grey haired man smiled, pride in his voice. "Rubin Rose." He added.

"Rubin Rose." She said back, sounding even happier.

"Hervorragend, brilliant." It was an awful thing to realize, but the red eyed man had never seen the brown eyed one so happy.

"Ahem." The two on and near the desk turned at the sound he made to get their attention, a wide grin on the goggled girl's face.

"Onkel Krähe!" She called happily, jumping to the ground.

"Uh..." He couldn't do anything but look at her, confused.

"I said 'Uncle Qrow'!" The plant mage explained with an even bigger grin. "Had to say the bird." She added, though it didn't seem to dampen her mood any.

"I'm sorry if we worried you Qrow." The bespectacled man apologized as he sipped his coffee, a smile of his own still present. "Ruby is interested in learning the languages of the other kingdoms, so she came to me." He explained, getting a hum.

"That what you've been reading about Kiddo?" The younger man asked, getting a nod. "...Why do you want to learn?" This time the answer was a shrug.

"Seems cool." The silver eyed girl answered simply. He'd have questioned further if random interest and curiosity wasn't something she'd so plainly inherited from her mother...besides, he'd been hoping the two could create a good relationship, it would likely help the both of them.

"You'll have to continue tomorrow Kiddo, we have more scythe training."

"Ok Uncle Qrow!" The little girl spun on her heel to face the century old man. "Thank you Wizard Ozpin, see you tomorrow!"

June 6th

Around two weeks later the scythe users were informed by Nora that the wizard had requested to see them, the archmage himself was simply glad a certain Impetus had found a use for the utilizer who spent most of her time in Beacon anyway.

"Vale has been bothered by a pack of Beowolf for the past few days, only four or five by the sound of it." Ozpin stated when the two mages entered his office, getting a raised eyebrow from his ex-apprentice.

"If it's just four or five why send me? Even the leader won't be very strong with that small a pack." Qrow pointed out, getting a hum.

"Which is exactly why I'm not sending YOU." He blinked. "I'm sending BOTH of you." The older man corrected. "You didn't run into any Grimm on your way here. Such a small pack is a good opportunity for her to watch and learn how to fight them."

"I get it." The younger man said thoughtfully. "It's too small a pack for her to accidentally bump into one and piss them off, they'll all be focused on me."

"Exactly."

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby tugged on her uncle's cloak as she spoke, drawing his attention. "I thought we're in Vale?" She asked curiously.

"The kingdom is called Vale, but so is the town where the royal family lives. It's only half a day or so from here." He explained, the little girl making a small noise of understanding.

"Because the royal family lives there we have to deal with any Grimm around as quickly as possible." The bespectacled man added.

"It's so close we shouldn't need to pack anything. Come on." The red eyed man turned, beginning to head towards the elevator.

"Ah, Ruby?" He stopped at the other man's voice, looking over his shoulder. "You have yet to choose an emblem, which you will need to prove you're a member of the order when you are off our grounds. As such, I...believe it's about time you got these." Breathing stopped upon seeing the painfully familiar gold burning rose emblem and enchanted bag with the same mark stitched into it.

 _~Flashback~_

 _The to-be archmages stood before their mentor in his office, who held out the silver versions of their emblems that marked them as full fledged mages._

 _"You can't do this!" 21 year old Summer disagreed angrily, gold emblem easily seen pinned in her hair thanks to the hood being down._

 _"Shor-" Also 21 year old Qrow tried to calm his friend, only for her to slam her foot against the floor to shut him up._

 _"No! Don't try to defend him Qrow, we AREN'T ready for this!"_

 _"You're not ready." Ozpin agreed, earning a harsh glare from the woman._

 _"Then why-"_

 _"I'm afraid I don't have a choice Summer." He sighed, her anger fading. "It seems that while I was awaiting to be 'reincarnated' at some point civilians began to enforce their opinions as laws to the mages and utilizers." Because civilians took up the majority of the population they often thought they could make the smaller groups obey them like some servants...just one of many reasons the ex-bandit hated them._

 _"21 would be fine if we didn't get here only four years ago." Apparently he had lost focus on the conversation a bit, though it was clear that her anger had been replaced by irritation._

 _"They don't care about specifics. Any apprentice that isn't a full mage by 21 is to be given their new emblem and no longer be taught...utilizers are the same." The cane user didn't sound happy about this either, continuing to hold out the silver emblems with a neutral expression (he had probably only reiterated what they were taking about because he noticed that one of them wasn't paying attention). "I managed to draw out your advancement thanks to your close connection to Qrow, but with his birthday also passed I no longer have an excuse."_

 _"You're the Wi-"_

 _"Summer." The silver eyed woman's name came out simply, a tiredness in the voice of the owner. "It's...better to go along with their wishes, rather than having them despise or fear us more." The office fell silent, a kind thick with tension and sadness._

 _"...To the Archmages of Vale. Shifter and Thorn." The younger man forced a smile, taking his new emblem and holding it proudly toward the caped woman. She stared at him for a few moments before slowly reaching for her own silver emblem, coping his position._

 _"To Archmage-Thorn and Archmage-Shifter." She agreed, a playful look of annoyance crossing his face._

 _"Thorn and Shifter? Come on Short-stack, Shifter and Thorn sounds way better." The woman with red tipped hair snorted, trying to keep in a laugh._

 _"Not happening Tweets. I'm better at magic, so I get to go first." In the corner of his eye he could see the older man smile as she replaced the gold emblem in her hair with the new silver one, laughing as he continued the friendly argument._

Besides...the silver looks way better on you than the gold Short-stack.

 _~End of Flashback~_

"-use her emblem. Nothing would have made her happier." The sudden snap back to the present startled him, though he didn't dare show it.

"...Ok." The child agreed hesitantly before carefully tying the bag to her belt, pinning the emblem on the front of her cloak.

"It's perfect." The one who gave it to her smiled.

"Come on Kiddo, we should get going."

"Coming!"

June 6th

The little apprentice had been moving her new emblem around frequently during the travel to the town of Vale, eventually settling for on her belt and hidden by her cloak, and that only caused her mentor to be angry and ashamed at how obvious his unhappiness at seeing it must have been. It was a mere hour or two until nightfall, which meant they'd be best spending the night in the town inn to avoid another freak out from the traumatized girl...it would also mean he would have to be quick with dispatching the targets.

"Won't Grimm attack me?" Ruby questioned suddenly, causing him to wonder if she had simply been nervous about that question instead of what he thought before.

"Nope." Qrow answered simply, turning his head to see her and giving a bit of a laugh at her head being tilted curiously to the side. "Grimm don't attack utilizers or mages, unless we attack them first."

"Why?" She asked, the goggles hid her eyes but her lips were pulled into a confused expression.

"No idea." He admitted, only making the expression more evident. "Some think aura and Grimm are similar enough that the monsters think we're one of them, others think our aura instead hides our emotions...even Oz doesn't know." He added, watching as the confusion became an uncomfortable frown.

"...I like hiding better." The shifter gave another laugh.

"Same here Kiddo." He assured her, ruffling her hair under the hood.

"Why kill the Beowolf near the house? Daddy's a utilizer." Had anyone actually TOLD her Tai was a utilizer, or had she just figured it out on her own?

"I didn't know you awoke as a mage. Besides, Little Dragon's still a civilian." He stopped quite abruptly just as stone walls of a town came into view, forgetting she was slightly behind him and tripped over his leg because of it.

"Uncle Qrow!" The plant user whined in annoyance from the ground, quickly helped up by the man who tripped her in the first place.

"Sorry. I, uh...just realized I forgot to ask Oz WHERE around the town the Grimm are." He muttered as an apology. "Normally just fly around 'til I find them..." He wasn't about to leave her alone even if Grimm wouldn't attack her, bandits or something may be nearby for all he knew.

"Can't we ask them?" The silver eyed girl pointed to the wall.

"Right..." The red eyed man felt like a damn idiot; of COURSE the town would know at least a general idea of where the Grimm were when they had been attacked the past few days. He was too used to doing this alone. "In that case, let's-"

"AR-WOOOOOO!" The howl caught him off guard, but at least asking wasn't needed now. Without a word the man grabbed her arm, taking off running. Her breathing picked up and he knew she was scared, but that was the whole reason they had been sent; to get her over that fear...they may not attack her normally, but the fear would still stop her from fighting them if she needed to.

"Four." The black haired man murmured once they had reached the wolf-like beasts, seeing the four out of five didn't have a single spike.

"No spikes?" The girl with red tipped hair noticed aloud.

"Grimm gain a spike for every year of 'life', so the main group isn't even a year. The leader is two." He pointed to the only one with spikes, specifically one on each arm.

"So...they're babies?" Her voice sounded almost upset with the idea.

"Grimm have no souls. They're only purpose is killing people." The red eyed man stated bluntly, hearing her move back though he didn't know if it was from the tone of what he had said or the monsters themselves.

"...Help them, please." The silver eyed girl had to mean the town's folk.

"On it." He agreed, pulling Harbinger and growing it to full weapon form since these pups wouldn't be anywhere near fast enough to warrant Presage. There was no reason for any flare as he easily sliced through the one of the spikeless, the quicker he took them out the quicker they could get food and light as the sun set. The sudden realization that fighting like this had the added effect of letting her see how to properly use a scythe in battle made him spin his weapon around more than he would have normally, the adult scythe user had enough brute strength to cut through the weak pack and would have done so to use less energy otherwise. Two more spikeless and the leader taken down in moments, his eyes scanned around for the last member.

"Go away!" He spun around in a panic, seeing his niece glaring down the last Grimm as it advanced at her (how had she gotten it's attention?!). Cresent Rose had already been brought to it's true form, size well over triple that of the small child as her left hand began to spin it.

 _RUBY!_ The bird-man screamed in panic within his mind, running as fast as he could...he would be faster in his avian form, but the panic was halting his magic. The scythe spun faster and faster as the wolf Grimm stalked closer to her, despite that she had dropped it during training any time she got close to the speeds it was now. The moment it was within reach of the large weapon her hand shifted to snap the weapon forward with the force it still had from the spinning, slicing through the enemy without hesitation with barely a spark of magic along the blade.

"It...was behind you..." The jewel named girl explained as he stopped in front of her, weapon shrinking back to a charm before staring at her left hand. "I...threw a rock..." The way she spoke and stared at her hand made it apparent that she had no idea how she had suddenly became capable of killing a Grimm, even if it was the weakest of them (her heavy fear of her own magic should have stopped her from putting any along the blade to cut through the target too...).

"...You didn't need to do that Kiddo, I would have been fine." Once it had gotten close enough for him to notice he probably would have just shifted to avoid the attack before returning to normal and killing it.

"...Sorry."

"Just try not to do it again."

June 7th

"Ruby...killed a Beowolf?" Ozpin repeated slowly as his ex-apprentice stood before him, the mentioned girl currently spending time with her two friends...she had gotten some free books from a bookstore in the town of Vale for protecting it, after they had been personally thanked by the king (since she still didn't actually know much about the world outside Patch it wasn't surprising that she'd expected a direct prize or pay from the royal, but with half the food of the local farms going to the order it was fine that they got nothing but the store owner noticing her looking at some hero stories and giving them to her).

"I know what I saw Oz." Qrow confirmed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know how, but the moment Cresent Rose was at it's full form it was...like she'd been using it her whole life." He tried to explain, taking a long drink from the flask in his hand before looking at it in thought.

"I'd be concerned if she didn't." His head snapped back to the older, eyes wide. "I believe I've told you this before: those born with silver eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior."

"Yeah...once, not too long after we found out about Salem."

"Ruby is one. She can, and will, fight the Grimm...if not a mage she would have been born a utilizer, though she's now the third generation of mages from the Rose family. She will know how to fight the Grimm with her destined weapon without any training, at the same level as you, once one gets too close to her...as she gets older it won't matter what weapon she uses, and the distance for them to enter becomes much larger." The younger let out the breath he hadn't noticed he was holding.

"That's long running for a mage family. Most are lucky to get two, even if they marry another mage." He pointed out, still processing the rest.

"Indeed." The other agreed simply. "She should still be taught to use her scythe, if for no other reason than having her learn the control she'll need for magic...besides, not all of her enemies will be Grimm." The room became so tense it was suffocating.

"...Got it."

"I'll be keeping you here until she's capable of fighting without her eyes' power."

August 4th

The uncle had the little girl begin spinning with her non-dominant right hand, since she had mastered the left. It would make her life a lot easier if she could use it the same with both hands, even if that was all she could really use the right for.

* * *

 **Curious and eager to learn Ruby is best Ruby. And I explained how Silver Eyes work in this world! Yay!** **Also, yes, Qrow has a REALLY bad habit of turning into a crow for anything it may help...he's actually really bad at dodging as a human, because he always just shifts forms.**  
 **Hope you all enjoyed! See you all soon ^^**


	13. Time Gone By Pt 2

**I have no idea how this ended up so long. I actually had writer's block after the fourth section, but the rest just sorta hit me at random. Hope you all enjoy!**

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Octoberer 1st

Time was an odd thing when you didn't really notice it passing, in seemingly no time the month of the apprentice's birthday had began.

 _What am I gonna get Kiddo for her birthday?_ Qrow wondered as he walked through the halls of Beacon, headed for his room to get away from everyone and let down his guard while she spent time with her friends. _I'd love to let her see Tai and Little Dragon, but she has no more control of her magic now than when she left Patch..._ His attempt at training had actually made it worse, thanks to the almost loss of her mind...books and candy seemed obvious but not heartfelt enough, while a thicker cloak or blankets for the coming winter were hardly good birthday presents for a child.

"And this one?" The shifter stopped at the familiar female voice, seeing the three children he had been trying to get away from sitting outside his door. There was an open picture book on the floor in front of the girls, the boy looking up at him.

"Oh, that's-" Ruby started to answer, sudden movement from the young male drawing her attention suddenly to the man. "Uncle Qrow?" Why did she could so surprised? It was HIS room.

"What're you doin' here Kiddo?" He asked, watching the currently visible silver eyes look back down at the book. He took a few steps forward, recognizing it as a book that frequently used to be read by her mother before bed. She was silent a few moments, eyes clenching shut as though in pain. "Ki-"

"Thinking of Mommy." The words knocked the air out of the red eyed man's lungs, pain filling his chest in its place.

"O-oh..." He couldn't think of anything else to say, turning his head away to keep tears quickly gathering in his eyes from being seen. "Well...have fun." He turned without thought and walked back the way he came, sliding down the wall as soon as he was out of sight.

"Why did you say that?!" Nora demanded angrily, though his memory and pain filled mind barely registered it as he silently cried.

"Didn't want to know." The girl with red tipped hair answered.

"You didn't need to say THAT!" The orange haired girl certainly wasn't pleased. "Can't you see he-"

"I know!" The plant mage cut her friend off, sounding as though she was about to cry. "I...never wanted...make him...didn't mean to..." The beginnings of sobs echoed through the hallway. A shuffle followed, a few more seconds of sobbing before silence; the charmer had calmed the younger girl down.

"...Sorry." The utilizer apologized, guilt in her voice. "I...you wouldn't have to lie if I could just read..." Wait...she was illiterate? The female orphan couldn't read?

 _That-_ ...explained a lot. No one seemed to be annoyed by her tendancy to skip her classes and spend time with her friend, but if she couldn't read getting mad would be pointless. Still, that meant the 'teachers' at Signal must know...surely they'd have taught her by now. It's not like there was a reason for her to-

"Mommy tried. I'll help now." Short-stack had been trying to teach her how to read...there was no way the hammer user would have accepted anyone else trying, it would have felt like a betrayal to the dead archmage.

"So...what did it say?" The man simply sat nearby, out of sight, listening to the six year old trying to teach.

October 31st

"Happy Birthday!" Nora yelled for the seemingly hundredth time as the children sat on the floor in the wizard's office after they had finished their large pieces of chocolate cake, getting a giggle from the birthday girl.

"She gets it Nora." Qrow grumbled, only making his niece giggle again as he leaned against the wall.

"I believe it's time to open your presents." Ozpin pointed out with a smile from the chair he had moved to the middle of the room, watching as her own grew wide. "From me." He held out a box wrapped perfectly with rose designed paper, it was apparently so pristine it had to be opened with the utmost care despite the unwrapper's obvious excitement. A red book with the plant mage's name written in an eye-catching way on the front in black ink, a small inkwell and pure black feather quill (was that one of his feathers?).

"It...blank?" The little girl looked at the old man, confusion obvious on her face.

"It's a diary, or journal. To write down how you think, what you feel...those sorts of things." The grey haired man explained. "It can be good to get those things out, even if you don't want to talk about them, so you can write them down instead. You can also write down the places you have been and what you have done, to look back on later." Silver eyes moved to look at her mentor.

"For you to read?" Ruby asked, showing that she still didn't quite get it.

"I won't be able to read it Kiddo, no one will...enchantments and all. This is for you to write and for you to read. It's...pretty common for mages and utilizers, especially girls. Privacy to get out whatever is bothering them or just write about their day, you know?" She looked down at the book again, slowly appearing more thoughtful.

"...Ok." A wide grin spread across her face, her uncle wondering briefly if she had anything to hide from him before pushing the thought away...he hid plenty from her as it was.

"From us." Ren stated simply from his spot beside his friend, holding out a second box that was haphazardly wrapped in flowery paper with several portions pinned down to try and look more appealing...considering how the boy's hand shook ever so slightly, it was obvious which of them had done the initial wrapping. It was opened much less carefully, tearing into the paper.

"A flower press." The archmage chuckled upon seeing the two pieces of wood held tightly together with leather straps.

"A flower press?" The girl with red tipped hair repeated, looking confused again.

"Probably easier to just show you." He reaponded, seeing his niece's friend carefully hold out a bright red flower. Upon taking it he opened the straps and placed the flower against the parchment connected to the inside, the two pieces of parchment felt heavily of the needed enchantment. Closing the two pieces of wood like a book, he buckled the straps as tightly as he could. "Alright, give it a minute Kiddo." She squirmed impatiently the whole time, a soft glow inside revealing that the process was finished. Opening it revealed the dried out flower, looking just as bright as before.

"So cool!" The cloaked girl squealed, eyes sparkling with excitement and amazement.

"We thought you could keep a flower everytime you go out!" The orange haired girl explained with her wide grin. "To remember your trip!"

"You can keep them in there." The black haired boy agreed, gesturing to journal. The flower was carefully attached to the first page, giving the new owner something to write about later.

"Uncle Qrow?" The female apprentice asked when she realized he hadn't given her anything, mouth pulling into a frown.

"It was too much trouble to wrap, but here you go." The red eyed man placed what looked like a gold pocket watch into her hand, button at the top to flip it open and her emblem etched into the front. There was a thick chain connected. "Push the top." He chuckled at her utterly baffled expression to the present, doing as told before the hinges at the bottom let it open and she released a sharp gasp.

"..." There was no watch inside, instead were two detailed paintings, one on each side. The bottom had her sitting and laughing with her two friends in a hallway here while her hood was down, eyes closed as the other girl's head was thrown back in her own laughter...the boy merely smiled softly, a happy look in his eyes. The top was one of the birthday girl and present giver; hood up but a few pieces of hair sticking out, her grin wide with goggles around her neck as she held a book to her chest while he ruffled the hair under her hood and had a playful smile of his own...the two were obviously walking even if you couldn't see her legs or his feet, the hallway looking similar to the one below but not the same.

"U-Uncle Qrow..." Ruby's lip gave a small tremble, causing him to look away.

"Just...thought it'd be more meaningful than another book or something." Qrow muttered, not sure how he had messed up but feeling bad nonetheless. He almost stumbled to the side when a small black and red body slammed into him and wrapped their arms around him, catching him off guard.

"Thank you!" She cried happily, making him realize the 'sadness' had instead been of happiness.

"Happy birthday Kiddo." The man murmured, hugging her back with a smile.

November 1st

The silver eyed girl hadn't asked about any birthday presents from her sister or father, which the red eyed man was grateful for. While he'd normally give the large package without thought he'd decided against it, worried that the sight might make her want to go back home again...she was doing better about it, but he thought that might be more that no one mentioned the rest of her family than her truly wanting to be at Beacon. He would give her the present next year, his old mentor could hold onto it until then.

November 3rd

The sudden realization that the plant mage had been in the order for half a year was startling to the shifter, a little over six full month's since her magic had awoken and she left her family...it still felt like just a week or two ago.

November 9th

It was Oz's idea to have the little girl watch her mage friend during his lessons outside, his mentor and the other four apprentices were all warlocks as well...thanks to the distinct difference in how a warlock's magic worked compared to the others there was hardly a worry of them losing control; they got a headache instead of losing control so losing their mind could only happen if they continued pushing their magic far passed the headache.

"Breath Ren, focus." The adult warlock's voice was deeper then most women, a calming effect in her rumbling voice...there was no magic to that, only genuine care of the people around her.

"Yes Vista Peach." Ren responded immediately, closing his eyes as young mages often did when practicing new magic. His hand slowly began to glow that hot pink, a hazelnut in his palm. After a few moments a small translucent sphere of hot pink appeared around the nut, it flickered a second later before disappearing when the boy suddenly flinched.

"Headache?" 'Peach' asked when she turned her attention from her other pupils, getting a nod. "Barriers are probably a vice then." She spoke kindly, the boy merely nodding again.

"I'm sorry." The pink eyed boy murmured, the woman giving an understanding smile. She had always been like this, gentle with her pupils; if she wasn't a warlock the wizard would probably have her with a lot more pupils simply because of how well she handled them, but with their somewhat more unique magic it left her only able to teach others of her rank. Her apprentices always ended up well rounded, though their survival skills were honed almost as much as their magic thanks to her vast interest in the subject and knowing how important it was for them to learn.

"It's quite alright." She assured him. "Everyone has at least one vice." She reminded, getting another nod...when he continued to look almost dejectedly at the nut in his hand she sighed. "Look at me Ren." The little boy looked up, as told, only to find her eyes glowing. "Your perspective is all wrong Dear. This doesn't make you an awful mage." Vistas influenced the perspective of their target with their magic, which could be used for both good and bad. Perspective was a powerful thing to those who knew how to use it.

"Thank you Vista Peach." The black haired boy said sincerely, his frown changing to the usual neutral expression.

"Your quite welcome." His mentor's eyes returned to normal, smiling again. "How about you go sit with your friend over there? She looks rather curious, I'm certain she'd like to know what's going on." She gestured to the hooded girl and he followed the hand, seeing the younger sitting and squirming with curiosity so obvious the goggles covering her eyes couldn't even hide it. Her own mentor was leaning back against a tree a few feet away, looking straight at him with a smirk.

"Thank you Vista Peach." The green wearer repeated, giving the slightest of smiles before walking over to sit beside his friend.

November 16th

What started as a suggestion from his old mentor quickly became a part of their daily routine, his niece's natural curiosity overwriting her fear of magic (so long as it wasn't her own). The warlock woman was more than willing to let her watch, especially after he told her about the incident on the way to Beacon.

"You're doing great Ren!" Peach stated proudly, the boy moving his hazelnut around with magic since he couldn't make barriers. While Impetus magic wasn't his proficiency he WAS rather talented with it, normally apprentices weren't able to move the lift to the wizard until four or five years of training. Not enough to get a second title (like Qrow's own 'Murder' thanks to his ability to communicate with crows) but definitely ahead of his age with it.

"Go Ren!" Ruby cheered loudly, making up for their other friend not being able to skip 'class' during this day of the week. The slightest smile tugged at the pink eyed boy's lips, reaching out his magic to grab four more hazelnuts from the pile near his mentor. He put on a little show for his friend with the five nuts, all glowing pink...he knew of her fear of magic, and seemed to have taken it upon himself to show her as best he could why she didn't need to be afraid.

"Wonderful!" The woman grinned like a proud parent as the nuts continued to swirl around one another, always within his sight. The hooded girl, on the other hand, had her mouth dropped open in amazement. Slowly more and more of the small objects were added to the show, the black haired boy taking a minute to make sure he could handle the new amount before adding more.

 _Kid's not bad._ Qrow admitted to himself, he'd gotten far better than the last time the man had really seen him use this magic (that was two years ago, back when Short-stack-).

"Marvelous!" The adult warlock was overjoyed, unable to hold back the praise spilling from her lips as the around 50 nuts that made the pile swirled in a spectacular show. Finally they clustered together into a ball, pulling sharply back to spell out RUBY. The girl cheered and clapped as loudly as she could, her friend smiling just a little...she didn't notice how his glowing hand trembled slightly, a sign that he'd pushed his magic to the point of a headache, but her mentor did.

"Good job Kid." The red eyed man called as the glowing objects were placed back in a pile where they had been, their glow and that of the hand stopping.

"That was an amazing show Ren!" Peach agreed, even the others under his mentor clapping. "Go sit with your friend. You deserve it." She grinned, the boy nodding and walking over to the goggled girl, who immediately began rambling how amazing the show had been.

November 16th

"You mean I MISSED IT?!" Nora screeched with a look of horror, the man groaning lightly at the loud noise. "Why don't you do magic shows for ME Renny?!" She pouted, the boy merely blinking at her.

"It was just practice." Ren disagreed, though the adult knew he was lying...trying to explain why was really only going to end with her making a huge fuss and likely revealing it by accident, which wouldn't actually help any.

"He basically had free time." Qrow agreed, not bothering to explain why.

"Better be cool for me next time!" The blue eyed girl demanded, getting a nod.

"Tomorrow." The pink eyed boy assured, his friend calming down.

December 3rd

"From Mistral?!" Ruby squeaked while the trio sat in the the cafeteria, goggles hiding her surely wide eyes. Her mentor sat nearby, eating his own food.

"Yeah. Renny and I got on a Atlas boat and now we're in Vale!" Nora explained, the adult listening without showing interest.

 _Must have been a cargo ship...Oz says Jimmy isn't quite ready to bring people who can't fight on the ships yet, except the Atlesians that work on the ship._ Qrow reminded himself, surprised that hadn't known the origin of the children. It shouldn't have been that surprising, the boy always preferred Mistraltan style clothing and neither seemed to understand what was being said to them for several months after entering the order.

"Speak Mistral too?" The hooded girl questioned, almost shaking in excitement.

"'Duh." The orange haired girl nearly scoffed, the ability to speak the language was somewhat obvious.

"So cool!" The younger pulled her arms against her torso, fists against her chest in a childish show of her emotions, looking about ready to squeel.

"Your food's gettin' cold Kiddo." The archmage pointed out, causing the little girl to start stuffing her face before that happened.

December 25th

"Happy birthday Oz." Qrow stated as he leaned against the wall in his old mentor's office, just relaxing.

"Magimas isn't my birthday, not this me." Ozpin pointed out in a long-suffering sort of voice, though he smiled a little. "How is Ruby?" He questioned as he took a sip of coffee.

"Good. Nora dragged a pine tree into my room this morning and demanded that Kiddo help decorate it, so they're all pretty busy." The younger man explained, getting an odd look.

"A...pine tree?" The older repeated slowly.

"Yeah, like the ones civilians use to celebrate Magimas. I have no idea where she GOT the thing, but it's there." He chuckled, the black haired man giving a huff.

"If anyone could find a pine tree around here it would be Miss Valkyrie." The fact that no one could explain how the girl kept doing things she shouldn't be able to was more annoying than amazing at this point.

"I know." Came the annoyed grumble, causing another chuckle.

"And Ruby's presents?"

"She refuses to open them until the tree is decorated." There was an actual laugh this time, rather than just a chuckle.

"As long as she enjoys herself." The grey haired man smiled, getting a nod.

"...How are Tai and Little Dragon doing?" The red eyed man asked, the other blinking before looking thoughtful for a moment.

"...Better." The brown eyed man finally said. "Peter's presence has helped quite a bit, Taiyang apparently got a dog so Yang has someone to play with...it's a utilizer dog, dust kept in the collar like most. I believe it's name was 'Zwei'."

"It's to protect her and play with her if it's a utilizer dog." The archmage pointed out.

"Of course, though he wouldn't want to admit it. Being without Ruby seems to have made him far more protective of his remaining child." The wizard agreed.

"Can't blame him. First Raven, then Short-stack and now Kiddo...guy just keeps losing people." Both sighed.

"Ruby will return, one day." He reminded, as though hoping to ease any feelings of guilt the two had gained.

"Hopefully sooner rather than later, for Tai and Yang."

December 25th

"Merry Magimas!" Ruby exclaimed the moment her uncle walked into his room, the tree in one corner decorated with elemental charms usually sold for the holiday. An enchantment allowed the ice crystals to light up different colours, while fire and lightning were their respective colours...the rest remained unlit. Atop the tree was simultaneously the most ridiculous and heartwarming thing he'd seen.

"A crow?" Indeed, there was a small crow made of black paper balls and cut outs with some of his feathers pinned to it's sides as wings.

"Just for you!" The little girl agreed with a grin. "He's your present! So you not alone without me!" And THAT was the most heartwarming thing he'd ever heard.

"Kiddo..." Qrow's voice barely left his throat, surprisingly touched by the handmade craft. "...I love him." He smirked widely, the closest thing to a grin he could manage. "Does he have a name?" The other two children grinned and softly smiled.

"Birdy!" He had no idea why he had expected anything more thought out or mature, but the name made him chuckle nonetheless.

"Well, we'll have to make Birdy a nest for him to sleep in later." The silver eyed girl squealed happily.

The present the red eyed man got his apprentice was nothing compared to 'Birdy', to the point that he couldn't remember what it was even as he handed the poorly wrapped gift to the excited girl. He hadn't gotten presents for her friends, but they obviously hadn't expected him to as they handed the youngest presents. She gave them presents and they gave each other (and him) but all that mattered to him was the precious paper craft.

January 1st

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The girls cheered loudly, clinking their glasses of juice against one another in celebration, the young boy joining the motion even if he didn't call out. They had all been in rather good moods the past few months and it was good to see.

"Happy New Year." Ozpin chuckled while holding his coffee cup, watching the trio in his office.

"Happy-" Qrow began, only to be cut off.

"I'm gonna get stronger!" Nora proclaimed happily, taking a chug of the juice.

"Practice my magic more." Ren stated simply, taking a sip of his own drink.

"Fight Grimm." Ruby declared, a glint of determination in her visible eyes while her uncle's gut felt like it dropped from her words. The pair looked between each another, a brief flash of concern before returning their attention to her.

"You'll need m-" The younger man had a spike of panic when he realized what the older girl was about to say, opening his mouth.

"Nora." He sighed in relief when the name being said silenced her, as usual.

"...More weapon practice!" The orange haired girl changed what she was going to say, the little girl none the wiser.

"Uncle Qrow helps." The girl with red tipped hair smiled, turning to look at him. "What you gonna do?" She questioned curiously, causing him to smirk.

"Take the best care of you I can Kiddo." The black haired man responded, getting a laugh from her.

"Wizard Ozpin?" The tiniest child asked, tilting her head slight. The grey haired man gave a soft smile.

"I'm afraid it isn't terribly interesting Ruby." He almost sounded like he was apologizing. "I merely want to help more unfortunate mages and utilizers with their powers, be they adult or children. To have them join the orders, where they will be safer and among their peers while they learn." Was the explanation.

"That's the reason Oz used to send me to travel the kingdom." The shifter added, a small nod showing that she understood.

"However, now that midnight has passed I believe it's time for you three to go to bed." The wizard pointed out, the utilizer whining even as she let out a long yawn.

"Good-" The plant mage yawned as well, sleepily rubbing her eyes. "Good night." She finished, drinking the last of her juice.

"Good night." The warlock repeated back, dragging his best friend out of the room while she continued complaining.

January 5th

The red eyed man hadn't told the hooded girl about the day the order celebrated him as an archmage, with the childish sounding 'Bird Day' as it's name, but apparently someone else did. She spent the whole time gushing over him and praising him, so he didn't have the heart to tell her that he'd hated the day for close to three years now. Without the accompanying 'Flower Day' of March Twelvth, no longer celebrated with the archmage given the day now dead, it felt hollow and painful rather than the congratulations it had been before.

January 27th

The child had definitely put her all into weapon training, as her mentor had expected after New Year's. Her spinning ability with the right hand was now about as strong as that for the left...what surprised him was that it took about the same amount of time, despite her never showing signs of being ambidextrous before. At least he could finally start teaching her to use the momentum for attacks, which made her very excited.

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 **I did NOT plan for this chapter to repeatedly flip between heartwarming to heart-rending but it sort of did anyway...sorry about that. Nora's tendancy to do unexpected and unexplained things is a reference to her randomness in the first three seasons of the show. I've always had the headcanon that little Nora was illiterate, I don't know why...having Mistral have a different language sort of makes it seem like she just can't read Valian, but she actually can't read anything.**  
 **Needed a character to act as Ren's mentor, so I used Professor Peach; kept her looks a complete mystery but gave a few other things to make up for it.**

 **Once someone becomes an archmage they choose a day for their kingdom's orders to celebrate them...these days are no longer celebrated after the archmage dies. This idea hit me when I was unhappy that I barely had anything in January, so decided to look up holidays for the month. The moment I was 'National Bird Day' of January 5th I came up with a surprisingly elaborate and somewhat heart-rending idea of the celebrations. March 12th is 'Plant a Flower Day' so it fit nicely for Summer.**


	14. Time Gone By Pt 3

**Geez, writer's block is the bane of my existence I swear. Anyway, sorry this took so long. Hope you enjoy ^^**

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February 1st

The goggles covering Ruby's eyes didn't hide the fact that she was looking at her friends like they were insane.

"Ground...hog...day?" The little girl sounded out the words they had said, as if trying to piece together what they meant... actually, that was probably exactly what she was doing.

"Did you not have them on Patch?" Nora questioned curiously, leaning as far across the cafeteria table as she could without standing.

"Nora." Ren didn't appear curious, but the way his eyes watched his two friends revealed otherwise.

"Right! I meant the animal, groundhogs." The girl with red tipped black hair shook her head. "They're...uh...Renny?"

"They're rodents that look somewhat like a large squirrel. They dig instead of climb trees." Trust the charmer to explain the creatures easily.

"...Why day?" The silver eyed girl asked, she was clearly at least less confused then before. The door to the cafeteria opened.

"I'll take this one." Qrow stated, walking over to the table. "Back in the time no one but Oz remembers the first medium was found, a girl able to communicate and control groundhogs. It was near impossible to figure out when the spring weather would come, making it harder to get new seeds and such if needed."

"Can't they do without?"

"Sure, they *can*, it was just harder. So she asked Oz if there was any way they could help. After some thought, he figured out a solution. The wizard used an old enchantment to enchant a groundhog here so it could tell when the weather would get warm. From then on February 2nd of every year the medium would ask the groundhog the weather, then direct it to come out to see it's shadow if six more weeks or not see the shadow if the weather is warmer earlier."

"That's so cool!" The large grin on the youngest's face made her mentor smirk.

"Unlike with the children of mages, the enchantment didn't even have a chance of being passed on. That girl lived out her life, and eventually Oz couldn't enchant a groundhog anymore. That medium helped build Beacon, so he decided to keep the tradition here to honour her even if there's no magic to make the groundhog know. It's more of a spectacal for the kids now."

"Groundhog Day!" The utilizer cheered, her best friend giving his own slight smile as the newest member of the trio cheered right along with her. The archangel chuckled.

"Best get to bed early tonight then Kiddo. Gotta be out in the courtyard before the sun even comes up."

February 2nd

To be frank, Qrow had no idea why he'd expected his apprentice to be anything but bright eyed and bushy tailed when she woke up. She'd been that way since practically her birth, and today turned out to be no different. By the time they got down the stairs and out the door the silver eyed girl was practically trembling with excitement, at least they'd remembered the enchanted lantern Oz gave her since it was still dark. The first time the shifter had gotten up to see it, the first year he was here, the event itself had been expectedly underwhelming...the black haired man still went the other three years of his training, he didn't have much choice with Stort-sta-...

"Ruby!" Nora called out to the duo, jumping up and down in hopes of getting them to notice her. The girl that was called at grinned, jumping and waving back. The utilizer had gotten a spot right at the fence that keep them from disturbing the groundhog. The apprentice darted to the edge of the large crowd, hopping as she tried to get the attention of people to please move, but there were so many excited children and exhausted mentors no one seemed to pay her any mind. Her own mentor frowned, shifting forms.

"*Caw!*" The crow landed on her shoulder, making the sound as loudly as his lungs and beak could. Adults and children alike spun on their heel to see him, drooping tired eyes looking more angry as a bird. They were quick to make a path for the silver eyed girl, the few little kids who didn't know his rank quickly pulled by their fellow apprentices to clear out.

"U-um...thank you." The hooded girl murmured shyly, pulling said hood a little further down as she walked towards her friends with an uncomfortable blush on her cheeks. The beak pushed against her cheek playfully, getting her to blink behind her goggles. Then a smile appeared, a finger petting the bird's head as his feathers puffed in disagreement of the action. "Thanks Uncle Qrow."

"Ruby!" The orange haired girl called again, looking as impatient as she was happy. Ren's head was resting against her shoulder, the only thing keeping him up seeing as he was very clearly asleep...that he could do so standing up was a show of many years spent around his best friend and her dragging him around while he's barely awake.

"Caw!" The shifted adult made a loud caw when the utilizer pushed the sleeping boy off her shoulder and began running towards them, watching as he began to fall over with nothing to keep him supported. Luckily someone noticed the charmer, wind magic used to slow his fall until his head landed unharmed on the ground.

"Come on, come on! You're going to be late!" The blue eyed girl grabbed the silver eyed girl's wrist, beginning to tug the smaller towards the spot she'd chosen. "Hurry up, even Renny is-why is Renny on the ground?"

At least she noticed once she turned around. The older girl panicked once she did, letting go and running to her best friend.

"Tired?" Ruby guessed, the bird on her shoulder nodding. It calmed any panic she might have had, as she didn't dart full speed to reach the two.

"You must be more careful about Ren's sleep Nora, training has been harder for him lately." Oh, Peach was the one who caught him...that was convenient.

"Harder?" Nora's head snapped up to look at the the woman, eyes wide in horror. "Does that mean Renny can't get any better?!"

"Of course not! I don't know where you'd even get such an idea." The vista laughed. "It just means he needs to focus more, practice more. And get more sleep than you've been letting him." The girl looked at the sleeping boy.

"...He never told me he needs more sleep." She was genuinely upset, it was obvious even without seeing her face.

"We both know he never would." The adult pointed out softly. There's a moment of silence.

"...After this can you bring him back to his bed Vista Peach?" She finally asked, getting a gentle smile. Sleep didn't sound like a bad plan to the shifter.

"Of course D-"

"Umber, it's Umber!" A child called from the back, causing everyone to quickly turn and look past the fence with several children in the back floating to see with wind magic. A small black nose could be seen from the dug out hole, slowly the rest of Umber the Groundhog's head could be made out as it moved a little further up. Once he seemed certain that none of the excited children would rush him or something, he crawled out of the burrow. A cloud covered the sun, no shadow could be seen from the rodent. The children loudly cheered, startling the creature and making him run back into his burrow.

February 2nd

Qrow hadn't meant to fall asleep while everyone was cheering, but he had. Must have caused quite the scene, given the spell keeping him in animal form stopped the moment he fell asleep... especially since he'd been on his apprentice's shoulder. Apparently Oz had caught the shifter with wind magic the moment he was human again, stopping him from accidentally crushing the little girl, and even brought the man back to his room. There was a pancake breakfast feast in the cafeteria immediately after Umber's prediction, then dancing. Apprentices were given the day off from training and so many played outside.

The archmage awoke around noon, finding Ruby in the midst of a snowball fight against Nora and Ren...not that the latter was throwing any at his opponent, he was likely only on his best friend's team because she'd insisted on it. Hot chocolate was served all day in the cafeteria with so many people outside. The high ranking mage watched from the side as the trio played, abandoning their forts and snowballs (Nora had won) to get hot chocolate inside. Once warmed up it was back outside to make snow angels and snowmen, though he laughed when they desperately attempted a snow bird instead of a snowman. They failed miserably in the end, but he appreciated the thought. By the time the parade began at dusk the children had sled, skated and hit an acorn around with sticks.

February 17th

Qrow hadn't seen it as necessary to take one of the training rooms on the second floor, instead using his room, given that his little apprentice had still been getting used to the motions of attacking. She insisted on using a target dummy today, so with a sigh he conceded. The second floor had three bedrooms for archmages, the room connected to the lift and a bedroom right beside it for whoever helped run the lift. The entire rest was rooms that held anything a mage could need for training, like the two with a garden of trees and animals, for when it was too cold to train outside. The shifter needed one with training dummies though, so he brought Ruby to one of the smaller ones close to the stairs. Unlocking it with his emblem, the barrier at the door shattered and allowed him to open it.

"Woah!" The room wasn't that big, not even enough for proper spars, but it was full of dummies and targets and weapons in boxes for those who didn't know what they wanted to use.

"Show me what you can do Kiddo." She still had some way to go before he'd even think of letting her try attacking him or sparring. The dummy actually did help though, helping her to work on how far to be from her enemy.

March 17th

"Uncle Qrow?" He opened one eye to see Ruby leaning over him, an emerald green mage robe on instead of her usual clothes...the red cloak was still on though, as were her goggles.

"Yeah Kiddo?" Qrow asked, sitting up from his bed.

"Why do we wear green today?"

"Oh, that." The man stretched before turning to the edge of the bed and slowly standing...he missed being hungover when he woke up. Gave him more reason to drink again. "Back when mages and utilizers were just beginning to become known a mage man named Shamrock explained the three types of people with his namesake to civilians in Mantle. Today is the anniversary of his death, so to commemorate him we all wear green." He rummaged through the chest against the wall, it mostly held mementos from Summer...but at the bottom was a grey-green vest with gold trim, he replaced the rumpled cloak he had slept in with the vest.

"But why today?" The archmage turned to look at the child, her face was pulled into a confused or maybe even annoyed expression. She looked directly at his face before continuing. "Why celebrate on his death and not his birthday?"

"That's...a good question Kiddo. One I don't have an answer to. You'll have to ask Oz." Determination clear on her face, she spun on her heel and out the door. Her mentor chuckled before following.

April 1st

 _My blanket is heavy._ Was the first thing Qrow thought as he began to awaken. _Wait...when did I crawl under a blanket?_ It was warm enough last night that he was certain he hadn't used one. When he opened one eye he was startled to find a large amount of sticks covering his body.

"You forgot your nest last night Qrow!" Nora grinned, which explained why he was under a bunch of sticks.

"April Fools!" She and Ruby Nora called out loudly.

"Yeah, yeah. April Fools to me." The adult jokingly grumbled, sitting up. This wasn't the first April Fools day he'd been covered in sticks when he woke up. Summer had done it the first year they knew each other, she'd also taught Ren and his best friend about April Fools day with the same prank on him...now they were doing it with Ruby, in a sense going full circle. "Time for breakfast." He got the three back by pretending he'd gotten the last of the food the cafeteria had cooked for breakfast.

April 19th

"Happy-" Qrow began in Ozpin's office.

"If you say 'Happy Deathday' I'll be most displeased Qrow." The older man cut him off, a look of annoyance on his face. The younger chuckled.

"Okay, okay." It was more tradition for him to try and wish his old mentor a 'happy deathday' than an actual sentiment at this point, he'd tried truthfully the first year he was here but after seeing he genuinely upset it made the wizard it became just a little way to annoy him. "How are Tai and Little Dragon?"

"Relying rather heavily on Peter, it would seem. Yang is starting to listen to his stories, so that's good...helps distract her, as does playing with Zwei. She insists on continuing to cook though. Despite Yang appearing to be a civilian she's pestered Taiyang until he began teaching her to fight, she seems determined to protect Ruby when they're older." The black haired man took a drink from his flask.

"That's a nice idea and all, but she's...what, 9 now?" He got a nod. "Most mages and utilizers awaken to their powers before 10. Sure, there have been cases of as late as 14, but those are pretty rare. She'll probably be a civilian her whole life."

"Most likely. Taiyang shouldn't have trouble raising a civilian at least." The bespectacled man stated, getting a scoff as the other man took another sip from the flask.

"I coulda told you that. Hell, Tai would probably _prefer_ if Little Dragon is a civilian. He'd have to protect her, sure, but with him or Zwei around she's honestly safer than if she could fight the Grimm herself." The thought of the blonde girl running recklessly into a fight with a Grimm almost made him feel sick.

"I suppose you're right. I hadn't thought of it like that."

"Tai and I have. We'd have preferred if _both_ -"

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby's voice suddenly cut him off, standing in the lift with the wall open to reveal her and a displeased looking Glynda. The little girl walked out, but the Impetus stayed put with her arms crossed. "Come on, you promised to paint eggs!" The child grinned, grabbing her mentor's wrist and beginning to drag him towards the lift.

"What? I don't remember promising anything!" He disagreed, it sounds real but he isn't actually trying to get away and instead following while putting up the act of struggling.

"Come on!" The apprentice repeated, and the wizard chuckled. The archmage had agreed to no such thing, clearly, but Nora must have put the youngest of the trio up to getting the man. "Goodbye Qrow, goodbye Ruby."

"Bye bye Ozpin!" She waved once she was in the lift, only getting him to chuckle again when his second in command tried to lecture the girl on not using his title.

April 20th

"Uncle Qrow! Uncle Qrow!" The archmage's eyes slowly open, feeling something shaking him. Looking down revealed it wasn't something but someone, his niece grinning. "The Natural egg hunt!" Right... he'd told Oz he was helping hide eggs for the kids this year, since this was his little apprentice's first big Natural Tetrad celebration.

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up." Qrow grumbled, voice low. Despite starting as a celebration of Oz's first death and rebirth (they were years apart but that part wasn't important) it had eventually become four days where civilians were celebrated. Mages and utilizers were to refrain from using magic and dust, unless on a job for Ozpin. Which meant the shifter couldn't just become a crow to hide eggs, he had to do it without magic.

"So what happens with the eggs I find?" Ruby asked as her mentor half-heartedly smoothed his clothes.

"All the eggs are used to make a huge feast for tonight. The kids hand their eggs to the mentors near the entrance to Beacon, and are given prizes based on how many they get."

"That's so cool!" The silver eyed girl was almost vibrating in excitement.

"Hang out with Nora and Ren until you hear the bell go off, okay?" The man questioned, getting a quick nod. In the end she only found 8 or 9 eggs, since other children were either faster or knew the grounds well...she got double the amount of prizes she would have, since this was her first year. A handmade doll, some clothes for the doll, a painted wooden egg that held a little wooden chick, some building blocks and an empty book.

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 **Alright, working on the next chapter now so no need to worry hopefully. See you all next time.**


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